Change Is Inevitable
by MysteriousFacade
Summary: Thomas Michaelson is in Ohio, Lima. Things are going to change. Is it possible for Quinn Fabray to let her guard down? Will that pesky guard that she wears so willingingly lose her a chance at something beyond a relationship made for popularity. (AU) Set days before Season One starts. (A/N - I'm currently revising the chapters to improve them in anyway possible.)
1. The Arrival

"I've seen your records, Mr Michaelson." Figgins revealed with an impressed look. "You've come from a prestigious English school. You were in a lot of different school clubs; It says here that you were on your school's football and swimming team. Quite talented too by the looks of it. It states here that you were excused from school for two years,"

"I was." The boy in front of him cut off smoothly. He smiled tightly, "I was undergoing some medical problems, Sir." There wasn't even a hint of an English accent.

Figgins nodded his head as he read the page in his hand. "and it appears to have been authorised by your former school. So that won't be a problem. In fact, I'm actually quite impressed by your grade. It seems to have only gotten better since your time away from school." The boy in front of him nodded respectfully. Figgins stared at the medium-sized folder in his hands before glancing back at the boy. He really couldn't be bothered to read the rest of the folder... everything he had saw so far was promising. "Welcome to McKinley, Mr Michaelson."

The boy smiled politely. "Thank you, Principle Figgins." He stood up calmly, "I just hope that I'm capable of catching up with my fellow classmates, I don't want any reason for the teachers to think I'm a slacker, Sir. That being said; May I go to class now?"

"Of course."

The boy put his hand into his pocket and retrieved a gold antique pocket watch. He sighed as he realised that he was already thirty minutes late. "It's a shame that I'm already so late," His eyes fell onto the messy desk in front of him. "I've always thought that first impressions matter," Thomas gave Figgins a subtle nod, "Principle."

McKinley High is a completely different school to one he attended formerly. It was smaller, less formal and it lacked on the clean side. That being said it did have lockers. Something his last school failed to provide because they believed that it would cause the children to become lazy. They might of been right. Another difference was the official school uniform; McKinley allowed you to wear whatever you wanted; His former school's attire was much more official. Luckily, his father's stature allowed him some certain privileges… though his father still made him wear a pretty expensive suit. The one thing that did stay the same was his tie. He still refused to wear one.

It didn't take him long to find his classroom but it didn't stop him from thinking about how much faster he would have been should he have been shown the way. Perhaps it wasn't only the students who have grown lazy. The moment he lay his hand onto the door handle he faltered. To the outside world he looked confident, sharp and charming. The truth was that he actually felt nervous. He hadn't stepped a single foot into a school in years. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. His intention was to open it silently but as though he had annoyed a higher power it didn't quite do that. Instead it stuck on the floor and screeched it's disapproval. Instantly he decided to just lift and push as quickly as possible. It's thankful silence made him release his breath in relief.

A curly-haired man glanced up from his desk. If it weren't for the dark jeans he might have been from the nineteen-twenties considering he was wearing a shirt with a grey waistcoat. A cheap looking waistcoat at that. "Thomas Michaelson, I presume?" Thomas gave him an unimpressed look. The least the man could have done was stood up and allowed him a moment to collect himself. Instead he rose his voice more than enough to make everyone's head rise. "I'm Mr Shuester." The intense glare that Thomas was openly sending Mr Shuester made the older man look away. Mr Shuester's eyes flickered across the room in search for a seat. "You can take a seat beside Quinn." He pointed across the room.

Perhaps for the first time in years something good happened with the following moments. Thomas could have been sat next to anyone; that one person who always smelled bad; the kid that would pretend to be your friend until he had something to humiliate you with… there were a thousand bad ways his first lesson could have went. Instead he was placed next to Quinn. Quinn was a very, very attractive blonde that just happened to be wearing a cheerleader outfit. Thomas knew instantly that speaking to her was only going to cause him grief but then she looked away from her work and their eyes connected. The most flawless pair of hazel eyes, they were beyond alluring. It was for the poorest second but he knew he didn't care about the consequences… he simply had to speak to her. If only her beautiful little face wasn't marred by that horrific scowl.

-0-

Quinn watched him walk towards her. She almost laughed when she noticed the suit. It was definitely a first for her. How stupid could someone be to wear that to the first day of school? It wasn't going to do him any favours socially. Though he did look handsome; dark blue eyes embraced by long brown hair; he was tall and muscular; his shirt and waistcoat clung to his body, showing just how in shape he was. On instinct her eyes flickered to his as he stood beside her. He picked up his chair slightly above the ground to pulled it from under the table. For the tiniest amount of time their eyes locked again and she witnessed a million different emotions and stories twirl around in his eyes. She might have even admitted that he was intriguing if it weren't for his smile. She had stared into his eyes for too long and now he had the most charming smirk she's ever seen. She quickly looked away as she felt her face warm up.

Fifteen minutes passed before anything was said between the two. It was Quinn who finally spoke but only because she caught him staring at her intently. It didn't even feel creepy… it felt like he was admiring her. It was like she was the most exquisite thing he had ever laid eyes on. The thought made her blush. "What?" It was her natural instinct to snap at him. She felt as insecure as any other girl and being stared at wasn't exactly making her comfortable. That being said that wasn't the reason why she snapped. No. She snapped with an irritated tone because it was natural instinct to slip into her guarded persona. That's just what she did, she protected herself. For some reason she felt guilty for snapping at him. It was probably the first time she had ever felt guilty. Without permission her head slowly turned to him and no matter the amount of effort she put into trying to look back at her work, she simply couldn't do it.

She had expected him to look surprised at her outburst, shocked even, maybe a small amount of fear but that wasn't the case in the slightest. Actually his response was the exact opposite. He simply gave her a charming smile to express his amusement. Goosebumps made her tense up as she instantly looked away from him. It was a feeling she had never experienced before. "Stop smiling." Her voice was much more quiet and confused. She wasn't sure what it was exactly about his smile that made her feel so _off_ but it wasn't something she ever wanted to find out. Still her mind thought of a million possibilities over the following ten seconds. The first one that went into her mind was that he wasn't supposed to find her amusing. Everyone, including him, was supposed to find her intimidating. They were supposed to look down and move out of her way. She was to be considered untouchable and some _boy_ wasn't supposed to find her amusing. When she said stop smiling… you were supposed to stop smiling. There were a million reasons that she could make up but that wouldn't change the fact that she knew exactly why she hated it. It was because he was smiling at her as though he knew something so simple that she was yet to realise.

"I need a pen." His voice surprised her. She had expected him to be cocky and arrogant but that wasn't the case at all. His voice held a sense of kindness and warmth. Something told Quinn that even if Thomas wanted to be cocky and arrogant, it just wouldn't be possible. It was such a simple request. One that Quinn could've resolved in moments and her hand itched to do just that. Perhaps if he didn't seem so comfortable in her presence she might have even allowed herself to help him but instead she refused to. She wasn't going to encourage him.

"Not my problem." She counted calmly using a void tone to get her point across. Quinn Fabray was not his friend. At first it seemed to have the desired effect as his smile broke into a thin line. Then something happened that Quinn did not expect. He turned to her and leaned his arm on the back of his chair. He visibly ignored Mr Shuester as he stared at her with an indescribable look. A pained pout pulled at his lips as he hand moved onto her chair. The back of his hand hovered at the back of her arm. "What," She released a shaky breath as she felt his fingers skim her arm. "are you doing?" The goosebumps returned twice-fold as a strong shiver run down her spine. "I have a boyfriend," She murmured quickly in panic. She didn't like Finn, her boyfriend, not in the way she was suppose to anyway. The whole relationship was a sham built to higher herself up the social ladder. A fact that no-one needed to know… especially this _boy_. "he's the quarterback."

He moved away guiltily before his stupid smile returned. He almost looked like he was going to give her a cocky smirk. The annoyance in his eyes betrayed his grin as her words synced in. His hand opened to show her something in hand: a black pen. "And I have a pen." She wanted to knock the smug look right off his face. It was her pen and every single part of her wanted to take it back but there was something that told her that was exactly what he wanted. She made the decision to keep their communication to a minimum. He was causing something within her stir, something that hadn't ever been stirred before. It was strange and confusing and she really didn't like it. Her heart started to speed up as something kicked in, her hands started sweating and suddenly she didn't know what to say. Her mind had been wiped. Destroyed. His eyes were filled with lust and desire… he didn't even try to hide it.

The part that worried her was that it didn't make her feel dirty. It didn't make her feel uncomfortable or insecure. It made her feel _appreciated_ and _sexy._ Two feelings that were rare when it came to Quinn. With the look in his eyes you would expect that his eyes were stuck on her breasts but that wasn't the case at all. If there was a single place his eyes lingered for more time than necessary it was her eyes. She didn't feel like he was thinking about her as one night a skank; the look in his eyes went far beyond a "quickie", it was more like she was an enchantress and she had hypnotised him with her eyes alone. It was like she was the most powerful person in the room. It was like she was the most important person in the room. It was like she had every single ounce of control over him and if there is one thing that speaks to Quinn it's control.

Suddenly an ear-piercing bell shrilled throughout the school with a deafening loudness. Quinn released a breath of relief, much to Thomas' amusement. Quinn pushed her chair back quickly in a rush to get away from Thomas. Her eyes fell onto his paper and she faltered. He hadn't even used the pen he basically stole from her. There was an air around him that screamed intelligence and Quinn could tell that he wasn't stupid. It made her wonder why he wanted the pen in the first place. Perhaps it was simply so that he could mess with her. "So I'm new in town." Thomas started as he stood up in front of her, blocking her exit.

"I don't care." Quinn stared at him in challenge. He held the pen out gently and instinctively she nearly thanked him for returning it. It was like she wasn't popular any more and she had fully expected him to simply keep it. She would barge past him if it wasn't for the case of actually having to touch him.

"Good." Thomas smiled with a pleased look, "In that case meet me by my bike by four-thirty," The moment he stepped out of Quinn's way she made a move to dart towards the door. "And Quinn," Except he moved back quickly and she bumped straight into him. A wave of cologne washed over her. Her legs were like jelly as she stared up at him through her eyelashes. "I don't like waiting." He moved back again and this time he let her storm away. She was going to cause him some grief… but he couldn't find it in him to care.

-0-

All the way throughout Thomas' following lesson he couldn't stop thinking about Quinn. The angelic like blonde. Once again he didn't get any work done because of the girl and it annoyed him. He was somebody who worked hard to prove himself and now the teacher thought that he was lazy. She thought that he was simply loving not having to do any work because it was his first day. She didn't even say anything but Thomas knew that she wanted to. Once the bell pulled him out of his stupor he found himself walking around the corridors absently. His mind had finally moved off Quinn and onto the things that had been on his mind for a days. The reason he was here and the idea of living this bizarre and strange life.

Something in the air shifted abruptly causing a shiver to run down Thomas' spine. His mother once told him that it meant somebody was walking over your grave… he still didn't understand what she meant. A feeling surrounded him to warn him to be careful. Thomas was a person of commitment. Once he had decided on something there was nothing that could change his mind. Most of the time. He simply moved throughout the crowds smoothly towards the cafeteria. Suddenly everything went quiet as though somebody had snapped a photo and everyone had simply froze. Three jocks stared at him from the bottom of the corridor. Thomas felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Every step the jocks took made the crowds fall backwards onto the lockers. It was almost a re-enactment of Moses and the red sea.

Thomas knew that their plans weren't innocent. Whatever they were going to do to him wasn't going to be pleasant or an act of friendship. In the middle was a beefy black boy and on either side of him was two white stocky boys. They were practically standing in front of him and yet he didn't look the slightest bit intimidated or threatened. His eyes did zoom in onto the large cups of slushy in their hands. Strawberry, blueberry and grape. He was guessing it wasn't going to be a drink. As their arms pulled back Thomas realised their plans and turned to shield himself instinctively. The cold, sticky drinks splashed over his hair and back. So cold that it burned. Gulps of the liquid splashed onto the floor.

"Welcome to McKinley!" It was an honest shame that they fit the stereotypical standards of jocks; Big, strong and moronic. Thomas figured that this was an initiation into their social hierarchy. The shock tore through him quick enough for him to awake from his stupor. He turned and stared at the jocks with a void look before removing his jacket and shirt calmly.

The corridor was silent. No-one knew what to do or say. His eyes scanned the faces of the people around him. Disappointment burned into each one of them. His eyes connected with a look of pity and sadness. The pity in them were so intense that he knew she had experience something similar. A small brunette wearing a silly looking animal sweater. Usually at this point the halls are filled with laughter and amused grins because somebody, besides themselves, were attacked by the god-like people but not this time. This time they wanted to look at anything other than the victim. This time they all tried to rid themselves of the shame that filled them because they knew they were going to laugh. This time there was nothing but sorrow because the boy before them was covered in enough pain without the humiliation. Old scars littered Thomas' back, chest and stomach. A circle on the bottom right side of his abdomen had a scar from a nasty burn; everyone winced as slushy dripped down his hair and landed on it.

The jocks stared at him with shame and shock. They looked ready to say sorry but something switched. A realisation tore through them. They were losing the last of their sway over the school. One of them started laughing forcefully. The other two quickly followed suit by high-fiving one another, the spirit of joy that was there before was now gone… this was simply an act. Thomas took a step forward and before anyone saw anything he had whacked one of the white lackeys in the throat. He instantly fell to the floor gagging for breath. "He'll be fine." Thomas promised calmly. Straight after Thomas went to kick the other lackey in the stomach but stopped mid-kick and in quick succession targeted his balls. Leaving only one… this time he didn't say anything. Instead he simply ran at the beefy black bo and tossed him over his shoulder. A solid thump echoed through the halls. He bent next to them and whispered something.

"You!" A voice bellowed from between the crowd of students staring at him with awe and something akin to respect. Everyone's attention shifted uncomfortably towards an overweight man wearing clothes too small to conceal his stomach. "Get showered and meet me on the field." Thomas stared at him silently, "Now!"

After his actions he thought that he was going to be in trouble. He hadn't stopped thinking about his actions. They were wrong and stupid, he shouldn't have struck them. He thought that this was going to be his first and last day because of his stupidity. Coach Tenaka wasn't quite what he had expected. The man was passionate, sly and determined, which was surprising because of the man's weight. The coach wanted Thomas to take the position of fullback. Supposedly he was impressed by how Thomas had managed to flip one of his biggest players. He wanted Thomas to be their secret weapon. Their ticket to winning.

It was also a free ticket for Thomas to rise to the top of the social hierarchy by doing something that he loved doing anyway. "No." Thomas declined his offer with a shake of his head. The problem was that Thomas had no desire to be popular and even if he did want to return to a life just like the one he had left years ago… he would never work, protect or side with anyone who could slushy another person for a sense of fun. His plan was to keep his head down, relax a little and maybe pass a few Advanced-Placement classes.

"You'll do this or I'll make your life hell. Imagine what Figgins will do when he hears that the new kid is already making trouble, unprovoked too." Blackmail wasn't something Thomas had expected from the man but it didn't surprise him. As his first instincts said: the man was passionate, sly and determined. The coach had him by the balls and Thomas knew it. A strike or even worse a suspension on the first day, that would never be a good thing. So Thomas accepted and walked away.

Coach made Thomas miss lunch. Everyone knows that you don't make a man miss his lunch. It was just bad form.

-0-

Thomas was in no way sensitive about the scars that marred his body. It had taken him years to grow used to them but he did eventually grow use to them. That being said he did grow quite irritable and annoyed at the whole locker-room gawking at them. They were all old enough to show a little respect and politeness to at least try to be discreet about it. There was one boy in particular who went even further than everyone else. "How did you get those?" Thomas heard the curiosity and intrigue in his voice but he also heard the pity. Something he didn't want or need. He turned towards the direction the voice came from.

Just behind him was Noah "Puck" Puckerman; a half-cast boy with a flat mohawk. His eyes stared at the scars with a mixture of disgust and fascination. Thomas grabbed his top out of his locker before turning and sitting down onto the bench. "Are you serious?" Thomas glared at him to show his disapproval over Puck's question, Puck simply shrugged it off innocently. "That's just bad form, mate." He honestly didn't seem to understand how the question might violate some boundaries. They weren't friends in anyway and Thomas' was pretty sure they never would be.

Puck shrugged Thomas' words off again without a blink passing by. "I'm Puck." Thomas has heard about Puck. A bully. Someone who attacked the weak and defenceless. 'Real tough.' Thomas had thought with an angry frown. "You hit three of these earlier, I'm impressed." Thomas shook his head after putting his top on. "No, seriously. Nobody ever stands up for themselves before or after a slushy attack."

"I heard that you've been on the amused side of the cup more than once." Thomas interrupted smoothly. Puck's jaw tensed as his eyes fell to the floor. It took a second for the look on his face to vanish before he was smiling again.

"I just wanted to give you a heads up," Puck continued cheerfully, "they're going to destroy you out there, dude." Thomas watched as Puck walked out towards the field. Thomas couldn't help but think that Puck might not be as much of an asshole as everyone made him out to be.

Thomas walked onto the field unprepared. There was one thing that American schools definitely did correctly; Cheerleaders. English schools didn't have them. He almost experienced an aneurysm at first sight of them all. They were all in one place, "Too much beauty in one place." Thomas mumbled under his breath. Suddenly a strong impact smashed into him and took every ounce of air away from him. He had no idea how he was going to concentrate with all of these sweaty, beautiful girls dancing in skirts around him. His teenage mind simply denied him any access to his focus and determination. Eventually the blows he was taking became too much.

His blood began to boil. Instead of reacting out of anger at their pettiness he ran over to the water. He gave himself a few minutes to calm down before running back onto the pitch but this time he had a plan. He was going to use their pettiness against them. He ran over to the halfback: Michael "Mike" Chang. He was a lanky, quick on his feet Asian. They hadn't really interacted at all over the short part of practice already completed. "Mike?"

"Yeah?" Mike happened to be one of the only people on the team who hadn't even flashed him a glare and he didn't openly gawk either. Thomas had watched him since he first stepped foot onto the pitch and he was good. Lightning speed and smooth reflexes. All they needed was the right plan. A real game plan.

Thomas stared at the practice enemy team with a hopeful look. "How do you feel about breaking your quarterback's command and switching up the game plan?" Mike looked unsure, "One that involves neither one of us having a sore arse."

"How do you know he'll keep going with it?" Thomas smiled and glanced at the dopey faced quarterback.

"Because his girlfriend's watching and the second he gets his first victory he'll do whatever it takes to keep it going."

Mike took in a breath with a slight shake of his head. "Okay. Let's do it." Thomas smiled broadly as his eyes flickered over to the cheerleaders. Quinn was staring at him with a confused look. Probably wondering why he was smiling.

"Alright! So this is the plan..."

Thomas and Mike were practically glued together. Instead of Mike speeding up to gain more distance, he slowed down slightly and stayed beside Thomas. The ball would soar like an eagle through the sky and then the moment Mike received the ball they started to sprint. Every time someone came at them Thomas tackled them effortlessly while managing to stay on his feet. One, two and then three player got blocked by Thomas and it was then that he realised that he actually starting to enjoy himself.

Just as practice finally finished and everyone was heading back to the locker-room, Thomas felt somebody staring at him from afar. His eyes searched the field that was growing larger by the second until they fell onto Quinn. Her hand was over her eyes to protect them from the sun and she had a broad smile plastered across her face. The moment she realised he was looking back she dropped her hand and ran inside.

When Thomas stepped into the locker-room the Coach instantly called him into his office. On his desk lay a letterman jacket calling out to him. "I can't accept this, Coach. Your team don't want me here and it would feel cheap to put that on and pretend that this is my team." Coach Tanaka was visibly confused and stunned. He didn't make the slightest noise as Thomas left to get showered.

-0-

Thomas stood next to his sleek, black motorcycle waiting for the angelic blonde. At four twenty-eight he pulled out his pocket watch out of his multi-coloured suit, he was definitely going to have to throw the suit away. It was a good job his father had more than one made. He placed his pocket watch back and climbed onto his motorcycle. Sixty seconds passed and still no sign of Quinn. He placed his helmet on and started the engine up. Just as he felt the disappointment rise his arm was grabbed. Exactly four-thirty.

"You made my boyfriend look incompetent." Thomas shrugged as he held the helmet out to her. She wanted to have a go at him for making Finn look like an incompetent quarterback because it made her look bad too. She didn't date the quarterback to be looked down on. She also had this feeling that told her that she wouldn't get any kind of response out of him unless she took the helmet. Even though her mind was screaming no, her body took it's own initiative and climbed behind Thomas hesitantly. The strange part was that her entire life her mother had told her that motorcycles weren't safe and that she should never get on one. Yet sitting here with her arms wrapped around Thomas allowed her a certain comfort and safety that she doesn't remember ever feeling before. The plan was to show him that she was in charge, that she had all of the power when it comes to McKinley and instead he had her arms wrapped around him tight enough to break a rib. She moved her mouth closer to his ear to continue her planned rant. "I can..." her words vanished in the wind as his motorcycle sped out of the school parking lot.

If there was one thing in the entire world that Thomas was definitely not going to be talking about it was Finn Hudson. He was a terrible quarterback. Was that the only reason for Thomas' irrational hatred for Finn? Probably not. He had been a joke, though that was unarguable. They pulled up outside of a small, red brick building. Quinn finally found something her mother was wrong about; motorcycles weren't that scary. Thomas climbed off and without even asking he picked Quinn up and helped her off. Quinn stared up at him through her eyelashes and blushed slightly. Thomas gave her a wink and turned towards the door. On the door window a sign hung: Closed.

Quinn's eyes caught the sign. She stared questioningly at him, "What are we doing?" The second she saw him take a pencil case like kit out of his inside jacket pocket and crouch down in front of the door she tensed up. "What are _you_ doing?" She altered her words in a rushed whispered.

Thomas didn't answer her question straight away, "It's been a while since I've done this." Thomas revealed calmly. The door opened and Thomas looked over his shoulder with a pleased smile. She couldn't help but let the thought of the image being adorable go through her mind. She instantly shook it out. "And I told you." Thomas finally started to answer her question as he stepped into the restaurant calmly, "I'm getting myself something to eat." He analysed her worried expression with a sigh. "Don't worry, I know the owner."

The question lingered on her mind; Then why don't you have a key? It was right on the tip of her tongue but for some reason she just couldn't say it. He looked around the room and quickly brought himself into the back. Quinn heard some smashes and just as she gained the confidence to check on him he returned with a large smile. "What was all of the crashes about?"

"How do you feel about steak?" He completely blanked her question and for some reason she felt as though skipping any conversation about this place might be for the best. She gave him a silent shrug as he placed a frying pan onto an oven. He glanced up at her as he turned them. "So, Quinn. What do you normally do for fun?"

Quinn smiled at the insanity of the question, well, not the question but the timing of the question. She was pretty sure that he had just broke in and trashed the back room. "You're not seriously."

"Try me." Thomas countered with a curious look. He didn't say anything else. He simply stood there ready to start listening. Quinn didn't know what it was about him that made her feel whatever it was that she was feeling but she wasn't going to spend too much time thinking about it.

"Homework, surf the web... and occasionally I go out with Finn." She wasn't sure why she was bringing him up again. To remind Thomas that she already had a boyfriend… or to make Thomas jealous. The thought confused her. It was quite honestly the most terrifying thought she had ever experienced.

"That sounds boring." Thomas commented calmly as he placed the steaks onto two plates. "I would've thought a girl like yourself would have lived a slightly more _fun_ life." Quinn's eyebrows furrowed at his comment, "No offence."

She didn't know what was happening between the two of them. She didn't really know what was happening at all. This wasn't the plan. This wasn't right. She was supposed to tell him to back off. She was supposed to explain to him that it was her, Quinn Fabray, who was in charge. Not him. This whole thing was about teaching him that Quinn Fabray was a girl to be reckoned with. She was here to tell him to leave her _boyfriend_ alone. One single practice had taken place and already the team had sent mocking comments his way. She could not have that. The thought of watching her boyfriend look like a joke for just one legitimate game worried her. The sad truth was that she was only dating Finn for the popularity he provided her… there was no way she was going to date him without that foundation he provided. She was here to teach Thomas a hard learnt lesson; nobody tells Quinn Fabray what to do. Nobody.

Thomas walked them over to a table and placed the steaks on either side of the table. He pulled out a seat with a charming smile. Quinn sat down with a polite smile. The second he sat down he sliced the steak up and started to eat it. He was half way through it before he realised Quinn hadn't even took a bite. "You'll like it," He promised with a sense of vulnerability. "give it a go?"

Quinn picked up her steak knife and fork without another word and tried it. She moaned in delight as the steak touched her tongue. "This is really good." She had expected him to make a cocky comment but he didn't say anything. Instead he just gave her another pleased smile. "Don't go all silent on me now, Thomas." Thomas winced at his name. "Did I say something?"

"No. It's just that my mom's the only one who called me by my full first name." Quinn didn't miss the past tense style in his words. "You can just call me Tom."

"Okay." Without realising it the tension fell out of Quinn as their moment played out. "Tom."

The small talk continued for ten minutes before they were both finished with their steaks and without another word they both left and climbed onto his motorcycle. Quinn got on surprisingly quickly for her second attempt. As the wind blew Quinn's hair back her mind got lost in a thought. She was thinking about what had just happened. How comfortable she had been sitting there with Thomas. How comfortable she was now with her arms wrapped around him. The thought made the goosebumps return for a third time today. She pressed her face into his shoulder in fear of falling off at a sharp turn. Once again she could smell his cologne and it made her heart race. Her plan had quickly turned into something that resembled something a lot like a date. The sad thought was that even with the silence and the starting tenseness, it was probably the best date she's ever been on… not that it was a date. She had a boyfriend. Even with that final thought her face stayed where it was. She felt safe and comfortable. Might as well hold onto that for the small amount of time she had left.

He pulled up beside her house. Thomas took his helmet off to say goodbye. The speed it took Quinn to get off the bike was impressive. She did have a good reason for it though, she really didn't think she could let Thomas help her off again. She wasn't sure what might happen. To be honest she didn't trust herself. "Spending time with you wasn't as horrible as I originally thought." Thomas teased with a charming smile. He slipped his helmet back on and turned the engine back on.

Quinn heard the engine roar and quickly grabbed his arm. She had to say one more time. Just so she could tell herself that her plan wasn't a failure because of her. "Stop humiliating my boyfriend." She heard laughter leave his helmet as he shrugged. He turned away and sped off. Thomas hadn't humiliated Finn; he had simply shown the team that Finn wasn't as good a quarterback as he made himself out to be. If Finn was better at his given position then nothing Thomas could have done would've embarrassed or humiliated him.

-0-

Thomas drove for hours before he finally got home. He wasn't ready to deal with the reason he had come here. He parked his motorcycle beside the house. He stared with intrigue and dread for ten minutes. This was his new home and to be honest it wasn't much different from his last _home_. It wasn't large enough to intimidate anyone passing by and it wasn't cold looking either. No. It was just large enough to look warm and inviting. Before he even rang the doorbell it swung open. A little boy ran into his legs. "Tom Tom!" Thomas crouched and pulled the little boy into a hug.

"What has mommy told you about opening the door?" The little boy shrugged with an innocent smile. "It's alright. Mommy's fault too for not using the chain." Thomas threw the little boy onto the soft gently and started to tickle him furiously.

"Stop!" The boy cried as laughter flooded into the air.

Thomas stopped tickling the boy and stared at him lovingly. "You need a haircut, mate." The boy's hair wasn't actually all that long. In fact his brown hair was short and spikey.

"No I don't." The little boy giggled as he stared at Thomas. His emerald eyes shined with innocence. "You need a haircut." Thomas tickled him again with a faux-glare. The boy's entire body kicked out. Thomas stopped with a mega-watt smile. He was so small, slender and fragile.

Thomas smiled at him as he sat up. "How was school today, Cody?"

Cody's eyes lit up at the mention of school. "It was weally fun. We made masks and drawed hands. Look!" The boy sprinted across the room dangerously to grab something and then quickly returned. With a small amount of effort he put the mask back on. "Now you don't know who I am."

"You're right." Thomas gasped in surprise. I'm just going to have to question you." The boy frowned in thought before Thomas picked him back up and threw him onto the sofa as he began tickling him again.

The little boy tore the mask off as tears of laughter fled his cheeks. "It's me. It's me."

Thomas saw a woman from the corner of his eye. His smile vanished and his whole body instantly tensed up. "Cody," She called out with a smile in her voice. "Go and play in your room while I talk to Thomas." Cody frowned at his mother but didn't argue. He just nodded as he slowly traipsed out of the room." Thomas finally gave the woman his attention. She was significantly smaller than Thomas; she was slim enough to look sick; Her dark brown hair touched the middle of her back and her eyes were a colder contrast of Cody's emerald eyes. Thomas' eyes lingered on the bruises and cuts scattered across her face. "Thomas." It felt like a greeting but it was so quiet and weak that it didn't quite reach Thomas' ears.

"Shut up!" Thomas snapped as a bubble of rage flooded into his veins and disgust scribbled across his face as he glared at her. He paused for a moment to allow some calmness to seep back into his voice. "I am here for Cody. Not for you. I've never been so disappointed and sickened in my entire life by somebody. I don't understand..." his voice slowly fell away. She couldn't do anything but stare at him voicelessly.

Thomas walked passed her, "What about dinner?" He didn't even pause for the slightest second as he continued to climb the stairs. "Tell Cody to get ready for bed."

Thomas opened the boy's door. "Cody, your mom said it's bedtime." The little boy looked at him with a frown as tears brimmed in his eyes quickly.

"But. But. I'm not finished playing." Thomas hated kids. Well, he loved them, but he really hated the look in their eyes when they were upset. He stood firm and stared the little boy down.

"Will you read me a story?" Thomas sighed and nodded his head. The second he agreed,the little boy grinned and ran to the clothes that lay on his bed, Thomas knew he had been played.

The excitement in the little boy's eyes as Thomas lay next to him and picked up a book from the side of the bed made him remember why he was here. "Cody. Do you feel safe when I'm here?" Cody looked up with a seriousness that a boy his age should never have.

"Yes. I know daddy can't hurt me or mommy now. You won't let him."

"That's right, bud." Thomas cuddled into Cody slightly to stop the boy from looking up at him. Thomas felt tears rise to his eyes because of the boy's words. His heart raced with fury at how easy it was for such a fragile boy to say those words. Words that should never be spoken. Thomas quickly wiped his eyes, "This was my favourite book growing up, Peter Pan."

Cody fell asleep quickly but Thomas finished the book. He sat there staring at the little boy for an hour. He should have been here. He couldn't have been but he should have. He was here now, though and that was all that mattered. Nobody would ever hurt Cody again because if they even so much as thought about it… Thomas' morals would disappear in a blink of an eye.

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	2. Diva, Assignment & Parents!

Thomas' first few days in Lima were entirely uneventful. It was already quite late in the week before he arrived which only left three days left of school. He tried his hardest to keep to himself. He kept his head down, got his work done and on the rare occasion his eyes might linger on Quinn for one second too many. He had tried to collect the confidence he had shown once before but every time he finally went towards her Finn would appear from thin air. The moronic quarterback would wrap his arm around Quinn's waist and kiss her on the cheek. Thomas had no idea how he was the only person in the entire school who noticed Quinn's true reaction. She smiled and giggled but her eyes frowned. It sickened him.

It was entirely his fault for not interacting with anyone but he was feeling lonelier now than he has ever felt before. He still felt the coldness in the air surround him no matter where he went. It was moments like these that brought his mind into a different place. When he shut his locker door with a tired sigh and two beautiful cheerleaders walked passed him with a bright, slightly flirtatious smile. It made him feel something. He wasn't sure how to explain it but for the slightest moment it was like the loneliness simply washed away… then it would rush back twice-fold.

Today was just like yesterday; Thomas came to school on his motorcycle; he worked hard in his lessons and he tried his hardest to not interact with anyone. The problem was that his actions, or lack of them, weren't intentional. He had been secluded for so long that it was his first instinct to keep to himself. Friendships weren't something he remember partaking in. Unlike the past two days Thomas was slightly late on his way to lunch and instead found himself being pulled towards the direction of the most magical voice. He pushed the doors into the auditorium open quietly to avoid disturbing the singer. The voice was so enchanting that Thomas would have swore until his last breath that the singer had to belong to the society of the mythological creatures: The Sirens.

He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her. How could someone ever harm such a wonderfully gifted girl. It was the girl from the hallway. The one who stared into his eyes with nothing but pity and it had nothing to do with his scars. The look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She pitied him because she knew what it felt like. To be humiliated. To be attack without a righteous reason. Every word that poured out of her was surrounded with the essence of heart and soul. It was sad. There wasn't the slightest amount of music playing as she sung. Thomas could hear the loneliness in her voice and the fact that there was no music only made it bolder. His feet brought him down the stairs towards her and her eyes widened once she spotted him. Her eyes filled with panic instinctively but Thomas refused to stop walking towards her. He gave her a look of reassurance and a small smile of understanding. His hand hovered across the top of the grand piano to the side of the stage before he took a seat elegantly.

She smiled at him before turning back to the ghost-like audience. Thomas' fingers fell into place as his eyes closed. Years have passed since he last played the piano. Not since the day… not since everything changed. Thomas took a deep breath and the second he played the first key he breathed back out calmly. Her voice went flawlessly with the music that resonated throughout the auditorium. "That was beautiful." The girl hadn't even turned towards him yet as her hand wiped furiously on her cheeks. Thomas waited calmly for her to say something. He wanted nothing more than to stand up and vanish but something kept him seated. He couldn't explain it. She finally turned and walked towards him to take a seat beside him. "I'm Rachel Berry."

Thomas suddenly felt uneasy and nervous. It has been awhile since he last spoke to a girl without his hormonal teenage mind guiding him. "I'm Tom." She gave him an expectant look. "Right." Thomas smiled tightly as he realised that modesty wasn't something she expressed often. "You were good." Neither the honest smile or sincere words seemed to appease her.

"Just good?" Rachel questioned with a look of outrage. Thomas' eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time he has complimented somebody since his arrival in the small town, and she deemed it not good enough? It didn't make any sense. There was no reason for her to be upset or angry. "I hit every single note perfectly even with the incorrect music to help me. Do you know how many other people in this school are capable of doing anything remotely as brilliant as that? Not one of them." Thomas suddenly realised why she was alone. Just like himself she chose to be alone or she simply did believe that she was the only talented person in the entire school. "I have been practising that song since I was a little girl and your opinion of my performance was that it was _good_ " She almost spat the last word in disgust.

Rachel Berry was tiny compared to Thomas and yet as he sat there with her intimidating his glaring at his very soul, he couldn't help but gulp with a weak smile. "It was really good?" His words only seemed to vex her more. Her shadow loomed over him as she climbed to her feet. Thomas quickly stood up as well and held his hands up as a sign of surrender. Her finger poked him painfully as she explained how one would compliment another properly. It was quite the shock. A British lad being taught the proper etiquette by an American girl. Her words went unheard because Thomas decided in that moment that he would never compliment anyone ever again. Probably.

"There's my hot little Jewish American princess." A familiar voice boomed cheerfully. Thomas didn't even need to see Puck's face to know it was him and he hadn't felt such relief wash over him in his entire life. Instantly a sigh echoed in every corner of the large room. Who knows what the girl would've done? The look in her eyes was murderous. Puck nodded towards the exit subtly as Rachel's attention fell onto him. Thomas vanished behind the curtain by the time Rachel looked back but he wasn't gone. His curiosity was too intense. "I erm," The confidence and carelessness slipped from Puck's voice leaving him vulnerable and filled with sorrow. "I just wanted to say sorry about the slushy again."

Thomas' head tilted as an irrational anger tipped into his veins. "It's fine, Noah." Rachel accepted calmly, "I completely understand that you have a social image to protect that you hold very dear." There was an audible frown in Rachel's voice, "What's a childhood friendship anyway?" Without allowing Puck to say anything about her comment she continued with an authoritative tone, "If you continue to skip your classes, however, I will inform your mother of your absences myself." Rachel released a tired sigh, "You need to start taking your education seriously."

Thomas walked out of the auditorium silently. Confusion and disappointment controlling his thoughts. He gave Puck a chance because Puck had made him believe that his reputation was over-exaggerated. That Puck wasn't as cruel as everyone made him out to be. It seemed like a mistake now. Something he hated himself for not seeing. He nearly called Noah Puckerman a friend. The biggest lesson Thomas' father taught him was that if somebody had your back then you had theirs. No questions asked. No matter the cost. The door behind Thomas swung open to reveal Puck. A forced smirk lingered on his face, "She's a feisty one." Thomas glared at Puck.

"May I ask you a question, Puck?"

Puck stared at him curiously. He shifted his weight onto a single leg awkwardly as he felt angry burn his face. "What's up, dude?"

"Have you ever received a slushy to the face? Have you ever felt the cold impact burn your face?" Thomas shook his head, "I doubt it." The forced smirk slipped. "You know, on my first day here this boy in a wheelchair warned me if some people I should try my hardest to avoid. He said that these three people were the biggest bullies here, that they held control over the entire student body. I was expecting the quarterback, the head-cheerleader and some random tough lad. Instead it seemed that it was more about the second in commands who fortified their leaders place on your hierarchy ladder. Noah Puckerman and Santana Lopez. Two people that scared people so much that they would run into a toilet or a classroom just to avoid you."

"What's your point?" Puck snapped with guilt written all over him.

"Don't interrupt me." Thomas warned calmly before continuing, "So these two people owned the school pretty much. It was theirs. I mean Quinn Fabray wasn't somebody you wanted to upset but she couldn't do anything without Santana. My point is simply this: For a man who makes hundreds cower with a single look… you're as much a pussy as anyone of them. Noah Puckerman is a coward."

"I'm not a coward." Puck argued furiously as he got into Thomas' face.

Thomas shook his head, "Oh?" His voice took on an edge, "Is that the case? Sounds to me like Rachel was once your friend and turned on her for popularity."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm talking about!" Thomas snapped angrily, "It's you who doesn't understand. When you have a friend that cares about you, you don't walk away from it. You grasp onto it and you fight tooth and nail to make sure you never lose it." Thomas shrugged with a disappointed look before walking away.

-0-

Thomas stormed into the classroom of his next class and dropped into the first seat he saw. He wasn't sure whether it was the fact that his blood still seemed to be irrationally boiling or the fact that he had once again missed lunch but he didn't even notice that he had took a seat next to Quinn. His tunnel vision didn't allow his sight to go further that two steps in front of him. He wasn't even sure why his conversation with Puck had angered him so much; perhaps it was the fact that he lost his friends years ago or perhaps it was because he was bitter. Puck had friends without the loyalty or faithfulness Thomas' father had installed into him and yet here Thomas was friendless and alone.

Quinn jumped at the bang of Thomas dropping into his seat beside her. She glanced up from her sketchbook and sent Thomas a look of frustration as she rubbed out the mistake he caused her to make. That's when she noticed his tensed structure and the angry look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" The words left her mouth before her mind even registered them and even though she wished they hadn't left her mouth she repeated them once more. Still there was no sign of him hearing her and then her hand was touching his arm gently. He looked at her and then her hand. "What's wrong?" She repeated for the third time.

"It's nothing." Thomas insisted calmly but Quinn's eyebrow rose in disbelief. Thomas sighed, "I realised that Puckerman really was a dick and at the same time I realised that all of this isn't right for me. I'm starting to wonder if I should have simply stayed where I was before all of this." Thomas hadn't meant to say anything but there was something about Quinn that dragged his guard down. There was more than meets the eye, as they say.

"You chose to move to Lima?" Thomas smiled slightly at the confusion surrounding Quinn. He stared down at the table in front of him.

"As a boy I used to watch this television show about these people in this really small town. It was a nice thought. To know everyone and feel safe no matter where you were. To feel like you had a place within a community and to feel appreciated. To feel like you're a single piece on a chessboard and every other piece surrounding you is there to have your back… instead of feeling like a pawn that every other piece would throw to the wolves to save themselves."

Quinn thought about his words and closed her sketchbook. "But some pieces are more important, like the king or the queen." They both knew that this had nothing to do with chess. They were both using the analogy in their own way. Quinn was the queen and Thomas was the pawn. Everyone else surrounded them. Not that either one of them realised it.

"Why are they?" Thomas stared at her with confusion, "If the queen isn't willing to risk her own life for the pawn then why can't the pawn simply stand out of the way and say have her? Intimidation, fear and fury can give any bully control over a populace but in the end, they're nothing. When it comes to that bully looking around for a friend to have his or her back, every single person will just take a step back," Thomas paused as he realised their teacher was staring at him intently, "and let that bully fall. That's something bullies don't think about. If they want true power than all they need is to show respect, loyalty and honesty to their friends."

Quinn frowned and turned away from him. "Then why don't you just go back to wherever you come from?" Quinn asked calmly as her guard slipped into place and everyone started to fill into the room.

Thomas gave her a small shrug. "Because when I care about somebody, I think about them first. Even if that means staying in a place I don't like." Thomas' sentence ended just as Finn walked through the door. The dopey-faced teen took a seat on the other side of Quinn and sent a smile in her direction. Thomas looked away quickly.

Half way through the lesson Thomas' felt eyes on the side of his face. He glanced up at caught Quinn's openly staring at him. He showed her the pen in his hand with a stupid grin. "Thanks." He whispered with a wink. Quinn quickly checked for her second pen and found it gone. She looked up at him with a surprised look but instead of asking any questions or demanding it back. She simply gave him a small smile.

Ten minutes before the bell was going to ring their teacher stood up and told them all to drop their pens. She was giving them an assignment and their partners name. "Thomas and Quinn." She made direct contact with Thomas for the briefest moment and a slight tilt of her lips.

Quinn looked at Thomas questioningly. Whether it was simply her wondering if he had a problem with it or whether she wanted to get out of it he didn't know because she didn't say anything. Instead her eyes turn to Finn apologetically, she even gave him a simple shrug as though to tell him there was nothing she could do. Not that she necessarily even wanted to do anything.

"Quinn." Thomas whispered to get her attention. She turned with another questioning look, Thomas caught Finn's eyes on him for a second. "Don't suppose you want to try and get it out of the way tonight?"

A flash of hesitation flickered in her eyes, "You can give me a lift home." She almost smiled until she saw Thomas' eyes weren't even on her but Finn. She shook her head at Thomas' deviousness. Sometimes she honestly thought that his only desire was to annoy the people around him. Then moments like at the beginning of class occurred and he confused her. She was intrigued by him and should was going to snatch the first chance offered to her to get to know him. If he let her that was.

Sometimes Thomas did have cruel moments but only to those that he didn't like, though that wasn't really a good excuse. Hours later when Finn leant down to kiss Quinn beside Thomas' bike for example.

"Come on, Quinn," Thomas gagged dramatically, "I'm going to be sick." Thomas' sarcastic comment flew over Finn's head, he just pulled back before he actually managed to kiss Quinn and stared at Thomas with a worried look. Quinn shook her head and climbed onto the motorcycle.

"Babe," Finn said quickly as he watched her arms wrap around Thomas' waist, "I can drive you. I don't mind."

"It's alright, mate." Thomas smirked at Finn, "I'll never have a problem with a beautiful girl getting onto the back of my bike. Quinn holding on so snugly just make me feel grand." Thomas reddened slightly as the pressure around his waist tightened viciously.

Finn stare quickly shifted into a glare as Thomas' words registered. "I'm going to drive you." The last thing Finn heard was Thomas' chuckled cough as the bike vanished from sight.

-0-

Quinn's house was big. Too big. The entire house from outside to inside made you feel cold and empty. It didn't even looked lived in. There wasn't a single photo hanging on anyone of the plain walls. The only thing that shown any personality was the family portrait above the fireplace. It wasn't exactly the best imagine. Bored eyes and fake smiles. There wasn't a single person that looked remotely happy on it. It reminded Thomas of what a house looked like when somebody went to view it and when they finally decided to buy it, they knew that everything would have to go so that they could make it look and feel homely. Everyone wants people to see their house clean and perfect but the problem with that is it's an impossible task. You can clean a house as much as you want and it'll still be a house. A home requires life. It requires the occasion item left in a stupid place. It requires the occasional mark or two somewhere. At least that's what Thomas always thought but even he didn't have the right to say them to Quinn. His father and mother made it their only goal to make everything perfect. If the slightest thing was out of place there would be uproars.

Quinn's parents went perfect with the house. Cold and lifeless. Not that they shown it. No, Russell Fabray smiled brightly and shook his hand. There was something off about the blonde haired man. "Strong grip you have there, Thomas." Thomas instantly let the lean man's hand go with an apologetic look. Thomas' father once taught him how to shake a man's hand and until he shook his father's hand with a firm grip he wasn't allowed to leave his father's office.

"Sometimes I underestimate my strength, Sir." Thomas' words weren't in anyway an apology. There was more of a chance of Thomas giving the man his motorcycle keys before he apologised… and that definitely wasn't happening.

Russell held his hand out slightly, "It's fine. A firm grip like that will get you far in life." Thomas simply stared at the man, "Quinne." Russell turned to his daughter cheerfully, "If our guest needs anything make sure he gets it." There was the slightest amount of warning in her father's tone and for a second Thomas wondered if the older man knew his father. Russell's words finally sunk in and it brought an instant smile to Thomas' mouth. How adorable was that? A nickname for the blonde beauty beside him. That was something Thomas was definitely never going to let drop.

Quinn glared at Thomas warningly as her father strode away. "You say it once and I'll castrate you."

"I wouldn't," Thomas gave her a faux-pained looked. Quinn grabbed his hand and squeezed her frustration while pulling him towards the stairs. Once they were half way up the stairs he smiled. "Quinne." His smiled broadened as a small growl fell back towards his ears. "You know what, Quinne? I'm rather thirsty. Don't you think a nice lemonade would parch my my thirst, Quinne?" Thomas paused at the top of the stairs when she sent a dangerous glare his way. "You know what, love?" Thomas stared at her seriously, "I don't even want a drink."

Quinn pulled him into the room with a frustrated sigh. The second her eyes fell onto their entwined hands she immediately let go. Her mind couldn't help but scream about how nice his hand had felt joined with hers and how cold it felt now they were broken. It never felt like that when she held Finn's hand. Hey eyes moved to his handsome smile and it only agitated her that much more that she almost smiled with him. She mustered as much annoyance and anger as possible and made her eyes burn him with it. "Stop calling me that. I don't need any more reasons to hate you." The simple words pulled pain from Thomas' eyes and Quinn couldn't help but feel guilty. Even a small amount of irrational anger built up towards herself as his smile vanished.

With a void look on his face he walked towards her until her back thumped into her bedroom door. Quinn's heart raced with panic and anxiety. "Do you really hate me, Quinn?" He was so close that they were pretty much breathing onto one another. Quinn's mouth dried up instantly, leaving her to slowly shake her head as an answer. His pain had moved straight to his voice causing her to cringe subtly. "If you don't hate me, then why did you say you did, Quinn?"

Quinn's eyes lingered on his lips even after he was finished talking. She finally fell out of her stupor and looked up at him through her eyelashes. She bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, "I," she didn't have a clue what to say. "I don't know. I mean one second you're frustrating and agitating and then the next your kind and interesting. I don't hate you." Quinn finished with a frustrated sigh, "I just don't know you… and that, I hate." Thomas stared directly into her thoughtful hazel eyes as his hand fell beside her head. His eyes flickered to her lips for a split second but he knew Quinn had caught him and it was taking every ounce of his strength to not kiss her. She had a boyfriend and even though Thomas knew it was a sham, there were still boundaries he had to follow. Whether he liked it or not.

Instead he moved back with a carefree smile and fell onto her bed. It was actually pretty comfortable. Quinn blinked her way out of her stupor gradually and her eyes found Thomas lying on her bed. His relaxed look made her want nothing more than to push him off. "I suppose we should start our assignment." Thomas groaned to express his boredom. "What do we know about Julius Caesar?" Quinn couldn't believe that he was simply going to pretend as though nothing had just happened between them but instead of saying anything she followed his lead and took a seat at the bottom of her bed. It felt wrong to be sitting at the bottom of her own bed but once again she kept her mouth shut. "You know. Other than being a Roman politician, general and the _notable_ author of Latin prose."

Still she couldn't wonder how moments like that seemed to just wash off him. It made her feel like everything around them between school and home was trivial and unimportant. It was as though her consciousness fled her mind. "I once read that his birth name was Gaius Julius Caesar. He was born during July, one hundred BC." Thomas stared at her incredulously.

He shook his head with a faux-yawn. "I know that the assignment is boring as hell and I know hat you didn't want me as your partner but we don't have to let it be boring." Quinn wanted to comment on his words. She wanted to argue about not wanting his as a partner but he refused to stop speaking. "No-one is going to give a toss about some birthday that's probably historically incorrect. We both know that the second we finish saying his name it would have already went straight back out of their minds."

"So what do you suggest?" Quinn gave him an expectant look. Normally, she was partnered with Finn and after an hour of letting him kiss her, she would kick him out and get the assignment done by herself. It was easier that way.

Thomas stared at her ceiling thoughtfully, "The first quote I ever heard was from my father. He said, 'It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die than to find those willing to endure pain with patience'."

Quinn gave him a faux-intrigued look, "So what does it mean?" She didn't find it interesting at all. In fact it bored her. The one lesson she hated above all of them was History. Normally she would just grab a bunch of facts from the internet and just be done with it. Something she wouldn't mind doing now. She pulled out her phone and skimmed through her social media accounts.

"Beats me." Thomas answered quickly. "You know what parents are like. Most of the time their not even talking English. They think speaking riddles will bring us wisdom… we just forget what they're speaking about. If we even listen at all. Just something my father said while he was drunk." Quinn looked up in surprise at Thomas' bitter tone. Curiosity filled her as she wondered what his father was like. "I could say, however, that during those time it might have been something said to rile the men up before a battle. A way to tell the men that they were brave and honourable, unlike those who remained at home. Some would give their lives to protect those they loved rather than watching them hurt and having no way to protect them. That's the thing about quotes, they're said to mean one thing but in the end everyone finds their own meaning within them."

"You're a pretty deep guy." Quinn pointed out with a small smile. She had her doubts about being partnered up with Thomas but it was going strangely well. They hadn't technically done anything for their assignment yet but she was learning a lot about him without him even telling her anything. She was intrigued.

"That's not deep." Thomas smiled calmly, "No. Deep would be expressing a darker meaning behind the words. A much less honourable root. For instance; there are many who would settle for a few moments of their dreams of happiness and success rather than grind and fight through the tedious, dull and difficult tasks to get a life filled with everything they ever wanted. Then even deeper;" Thomas continued but his smile fell. "there are hundreds of millions of people who suffer with depression and countless other mental illnesses that would rather take their own life than spend everyday fighting the depression."

"You're right." Quinn agreed with a frown, "That was deep, morbid and horrific. Thank you for showing me that your not deep." Sarcasm entwined with Quinn's words to lighten the mood. A knock echoed three times before Quinn's door opened cautiously.

An older version of Quinn walked into the room with a polite smile. Her mother, Thomas suspected, Judy Fabray. A glint of disbelief shined from her eyes. Maybe doing a school assignment really did mean doing a school assignment. She never knew these days, everything was constantly changed. "Quinne, I was just serving dinner," Her eyes flickered from her daughter to Thomas. Her smile broadened slightly, "I was hoping I might tempt our guest into joining us." Quinn closed her eyes as an internal battle exchanged attacks in her mind. She wanted Thomas to join them for dinner but at the same time she was supposed to be making Thomas feel threatened by her and gain control over him. Especially after her father told him about her stupid nickname.

Thomas flashed Mrs Fabray a handsome smile, "Thank you for the offer, Mrs Fabray. I feel, however, that I should ask our Quinne her if she is okay with the idea." His words were so smooth and charming that Quinn's mother missed his dig at Quinn. The older woman gave her daughter an expectant look.

There was obviously no way Quinn could tell him no with her mother staring at her like that. She would get in trouble the second Thomas' feet left her home. She couldn't even send Thomas a glare without her mother tilting her head and raising an eyebrow in warning. So, instead she made an excuse for herself. Thomas had made her something to eat in the past and now it was her turn to return the favour. Kicking him out would be rude. "Of course you can stay for dinner." Quinn answered with a faux-cheerfulness that she didn't even know she had in her. Her mother gave her a glad smile.

"Come one downstairs then."

-0-

In previous experiences Thomas wasn't so good with parents. His mother used to chastise him all of the time when they had guests around, "Just like your father you seem to think that being so forward is acceptable, but it is not. You need to start thinking before you speak, so that you can filter anything that might come across insulting or rude.' or even the occasional, 'If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all.' The problem Thomas always had with his mother's lectures was that she constantly contradicted herself. One moment it was, 'nothing good to say… say nothing at all…' and then the next it was, '…always tell the truth no matter the consequences' and 'Speak up and make your opinions clear'. It was impossible to do all four so he simply decided to follow the second two. That didn't mean he couldn't be polite, charming and respectful. He was a Michaelson after all.

Dinner had been going quite awkwardly. The tension was almost thick enough to cut in half. "How do you feel about having a black president?" The question did nothing to dim the awkwardness. Thomas' eyes widened at Russell's words.

Judy frowned her disapproval. "Russell, I don't think the young man wants to talk about politics." Russell's expectant stare didn't falter the smallest amount. Thomas smiled politely before raising his glass to his lips as an attempt to prolong his time before answering the older man's questions. His eyes flickered to Quinn who only smiled back with her eyes as she took another bite of food. She found the entire situation amusing.

He placed his glass back and coughed smoothly. He was a Michaelson. This was a situation he was trained to deal with since his departure with nappies. All it took was a little charm, "It's fine, Mrs Fabray." Thomas gave her a sincere smile before his calm eyes flickered back to Russell. "I'm sure everyone has their opinions on the matter, however, you'll have to forgive my hesitation, Mr Fabray. I was raised within a home that taught me a lot about the proper etiquette for social events just like this one. My grandmother was told me that it was bad form to speak of age, politics and money during dinner."

Russell stared at Thomas blankly, Judy on the other hand smiled with an impressed look. Eventually Russell smiled too, "You can call me Russell." Thomas nodded respectfully as he released a breath of relief. "That was a very unexpected, but pleasant answer. It's been awhile since I've come across a young man so respectful and polite as yourself." Russell's eyes moved to his daughter and his silence told Thomas everything he needed to know for a smile to tug at his lips. It seemed daddy wasn't a fan of Finn the quarterback. Quinn turned her head towards Thomas to burn his cheek with a scorching glare.

"May I ask where you moved from?" Judy asked quickly as the tension slowly built back again. Thomas took another sip of water before returning his charming smile back onto his face.

"I moved here from England." Quinn raised a questioning eyebrow at his answer. There wasn't the tiniest chance of his answer being the truth. He didn't even have the British accent. Thomas allowed his accent to flood into his voice as he spoke. "Throughout most of my childhood my parents travelled a lot and I quickly realised that my accent gave me more attention than I neither deserved or wanted. I spent days, if not weeks learning to mask the accent to the best of my ability." Quinn groaned quietly. Whatever it was about him that made her skin crawl with goosebumps and gave her the occasional shiver down the spine this little fact about him did not help. Those glorious dark blue eyes, the strong, confident and charming smile, the defined muscles and now this accent. It was starting to feel like God was punishing her viciously for her sins. It helped to know that the accent wasn't permanent. "I moved to England when I was young, but as I mentioned before, my parents were constantly travelling. The past few years are the longest I've ever spent in one country."

A second didn't even pass before Russell was ready to have Thomas speaking again. "May I ask why you didn't want the attention?" The disbelief and curiosity in Russell's voice made Thomas chuckle. "There are countless young men who would do anything for even the smallest amount of attention."

"I'm sure there is, Russell." Thomas agreed calmly before taking another small sip of water. Thomas sighed, "Something you might learn about me is that I don't like receiving undeserved attention. That being said, I, like every lad, do in fact enjoy receiving praise and attention. _When it's deserved_. I don't want to receive either one if it's because of my looks or the way that I speak. If somebody is to speak to me then, then I would prefer it be because of something I achieved with hard work. Something that deserves some respect."

Both Russell and Judy stared silently at Thomas with something akin to Impressed. Finally, Russell broke the silence to ask another question. "You're very well spoken. You're parents must be very proud of you." Quinn couldn't help but notice how Thomas' smile became visibly forced. Her father didn't seem to notice as he continued. "Did you partake in any activities in your previous school?"

"I don't think Thomas accepted mom's offer to be interrogated, dad." Thomas chuckled internally as he shook his head subtly. If only she had said that fifteen minutes ago. Quinn wasn't sure why she wanted her father to stop asking Thomas all of these questions. It definitely wasn't for his benefit. She was finding his subtle struggle entertaining. It had more to do with the fact that she was trying not to be Thomas' friend and yet she was finding out more than enough to call herself a friend. She knew he hadn't made any friends yet… she probably knew more about him than anyone else in Lima. She also couldn't let her father like Thomas. That would only cause her more grief when it came to Finn.

Thomas seemed to sense her worry too. He remembered the amused smile she had sent him in his time of need and decided to get his revenge. He sent her a sincere smile, "It's not a problem, Quinne." The scowl burning into his skull was the definition of perfection. "During my brief time before my home-schooling I was in multiple activities. I was the fullback on our football team, a place I have resumed once again at McKinley; I was also on the swimming team and the school council. My father was quite forceful when it came to activities, he's always made it clear that he wanted me to attend university. Being on the school council was tedious and dull but I suppose I don't need to tell a man like yourself how boring a board meeting can be." Russell laughed at Thomas' words with a nod of agreement. Thomas grew serious. "Unfortunately, that's the price I had to pay to help my classmates express not only themselves but also their problems, ideas and fears without the thought of being punished for simply having an input. I took the part because I think everyone has their own right to have their own thoughts and opinions and I refused to give up. Even after the thousandth time of trying to keep myself awake."

Quinn couldn't believe the way her parents were looking at Thomas. Especially her father. Every single time her mother convinces her to bring Finn around for dinner her father would sit there and glare at him all the way through. He made Finn so nervous that the dopey idiot would stumble awkwardly and he never looked her father in the eye. Russell had never even smiled in Finn's presence. Her father had smiled more in the past twenty minutes than he had in the past five years, It was strange and off-putting. "Those meetings don't get any better, son." Russell gave Thomas a sincere smile, "Unfortunately, anything worth holding onto isn't going to be easy." Quinn could feel the bile rising to her throat.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Russell." Judy climbed to her feet before moving around the table to collect the plates. "Mrs Fabray, let me help you with those."

Judy looked shell-shocked. It was as though no-one had ever helped her with the dishes before. Finally she managed to break free of her dazed state, "Nonsense! I will not have a guest clean dishes in my home."

Thomas stood up awkwardly holding onto his plate. "I'm sorry. I know it's rude to argue with your hosts but I honestly wouldn't feel comfortable with not helping." Judy's eyes flickered between Quinn and Russell for some kind of help. They both gave her a shrug.

"Very well."

Quinn felt her father's eyes on her the second the kitchen door closed. "What?" She looked stared at her father awaiting his question or statement but the older man chose not to open his mouth. "Just say it, dad."

"Very well." Russell accepted calmly, "I just don't understand why you couldn't have dated a boy like Thomas." His baby girl deserved more than that incompetent boy. "That Finian,"

"Finn." Her father gave her a confused a look, "It's Finn not," She took a deep calming breath. "Finian."

"He's an imbecile." Russell insisted, "He can barely eat his dinner without dropping something or stumbling around." Quinn held eye contact with her father for as long as possible. This, all of it, was Thomas' fault. If he hadn't have went all business like, this wouldn't be a problem. Instead he had to be amazing and impress her father.

"Finn is a nice boy, daddy. He also happens to be the quarterback." Russell shook his head to express his frustration. This was his fault. It was him who taught Quinn to do whatever it took to get ahead in life.

"I know I once told you that power and control were important if you wanted to succeed in life but to do that you also need to be popular with your classmates and I just don't think that Finian or Finn, whatever his name is won't help you with that. Not when he's drooling all over the place. I'd like the Fabray lineage to continue with beautiful and intelligent people. Thomas on the other hand…"

Quinn rolled her eyes at his patronising tone. She wasn't even going to think about his vain comment. "Is not somebody I'm interested in." Quinn snapped calmly. "I'm done talking about it. It's my choice.

Russell rose his hand in surrender. "I was just saying."

-0-

"Thank God you got me out of there. Your dad wanted me to sit with him in his office." Thomas revealed with a relieved smile, "Though, I guess that did mean we didn't get much actual work done." It was only as he climbed onto his motorcycle that he saw Quinn's furious glare. Here comes another lecture. "What did I do this time?"

"You know what you did." Quinn snapped before trying to imitate Thomas, " _I suppose I don't need to tell a man like yourself how boring a board meeting can be._ Do you know what you've caused?" Quinn moved closer with every word until she was pretty much standing nose to nose with him.

"Made your parents like me?" Thomas murmured quietly before looking at her with a confused look. "I don't normally do that. I don't normally give a fuck what people think of me, Quinn." He wasn't even going to comment on her vile English accent. Quinn caught sight of how his lips fought a pout and the unspoken annoyance in his eyes. He looked adorable.

"My dad didn't like Finn before you came along and now he hates him. He actually cares who I date now.

"You're surprised by that?" Thomas asked incredulously, "Of course your father doesn't want you with Finn. You deserve better."

"Why can't you date someone more like Thomas?" She continued her rant without listening to his words. A smile pulled at Thomas' lips as he heard her words. "My parents don't like anyone who enters that house. I can't…" A roar cut her off as Thomas sped away. "believe you." She finished quietly. She honestly might not hate him but she definitely hates that motorcycle.

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	3. Audition, The Project & Glee

Rachel Berry got a teacher fired. That was the rumour of the day anyway. Something about touching and caressing students. Thomas almost laughed, he knew that girl was insane, but a teacher was going to lose his job, maybe even more.

"Rachel." She was in the auditorium, again. Everyday Rachel ate in the auditorium, Thomas couldn't help but observe that. It was hard to ignore. "Tell me you didn't get a teacher fired for not giving you the leading solo role thingy."

"That is a bold accusation and I'm horrified that you would dare accuse me of fabricating such horrific lies. I told Principal Figgins exactly what I saw and nothing else." Rachel could feel the guilt weighing her down as her persona fell apart. She scowled as Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing else?"

"I might have embellished it slightly." Rachel let out a frustrated sigh. It was too late to reconsider her actions now. "He was caressing that boy, I just made it seem like I was extremely uncomfortable with it. Which I was! A teacher should not touch a student in such an intimate way." The only reason she had told Figgins was because she was uncomfortable with the intimate display. It had nothing to do with not getting the lead part.

"You don't have a glee club now, though, do you?" Thomas stared at Rachel in confusion as she seemed to gain a dramatic amount of excitement. She was smiling happily with a passionate gleam burning in her eyes.

"Actually that's the good news. Mr Shuester is taking over and has started the auditions today." She looked around with a worried expression. "Brad is supposed to be here to help me with my audition, but he hasn't come yet."

Thomas shrugged with a frown. "Firstly, Mr Shuester teaches Spanish. Why is he taking over glee? Secondly, I have no idea who Brad is."

"Brad is the school's pianist who was supposed to play for my audition." She scowled angrily. "He's late. Mr Shuester used to be in glee when he attended school, I think he wants to remember the glory days."

The doors to the auditorium swung open as Mr Shuester walked in. The older man walked down the stairs casually before taking a seat in front of a table. He looked like a professional. "Rachel Berry?" He looked down to her with a small amount of excitement and a much larger amount of hope.

"Here." She called out as she grabbed Thomas' hand and dragged him onto the stage. "You've got to play for me." She had already forced him onto the piano stool without an answer. He was good at playing the piano but that didn't necessarily mean he enjoyed playing the piano, this better be the last time he was forced into this position.

"I didn't say yes." It was barely a mumble but Rachel looked back at him with a pained expression. It quickly turned into a smile as Thomas nodded his head in acceptance. Luckily the composition was on the piano, 'On my own'. It wasn't a song Thomas remembered hearing.

Her voice was full of emotion. It was, for lack of words, beautiful. Mr Shuester looked beyond happy with it. It was extremely impressive. He was starting to understand why she was a target for slushy attacks. This was a girl that was one hundred percent definitely leaving this town and succeeding in life. Of course, everyone was jealous. The fact that she was slightly egotistical and loud probably didn't hurt to sooth their consciences.

"When do we begin?" Definitely egotistical. Sure she was amazing, but there might be singers that are even better than her, she might not necessarily get into the club.

-0-

Or not. The club was so depressingly bad that Thomas found himself laughing so hard that his face was flooded with tears. They had five members. Three girls, two boys and one of them was in a wheelchair. They weren't doing any impressive dancing anytime soon.

"That was pathetic." Thomas nodded his head in agreement. For the first time since Thomas had known the small girl, she stayed silent. She just sat there in the empty choir room with an openly depressed expression.

"Not even going to try and argue that." Thomas chuckled lightly. He was beyond thankful that glee wasn't a mandatory lesson. In his old school music was a mandatory lesson, it was plain torture. Even though he hated attending that class he did learn a lot from it. Not that he would ever tell Rachel, that girl would force him to join glee and that was not happening. She knew about the piano thing and he already regretted that.

"I can't stay in glee, I'll only make myself a bigger target." The humour faded from Thomas' eyes. It caused an insane amount of annoyance to remember that Rachel was bullied. She wasn't even that bad if you gave her a chance, she was actually fun to be around. Kind of.

"Why do you think that being in glee would stop that?" The thing about bullies is that once they know that you'll just take it, that you won't fight back, you become a permanent target. It's that simple. If you don't want to be bullied, pick up a chair and whack it over their heads.

"Being a part of something special makes you special," Rachel explained with a deep sigh. "I destroyed glee."

"Mr Shue is serious about Glee." Thomas countered quickly, "Never underestimate a man with desire." A man with desire can make even the most impossible things possible. Given the opportunity.

"I'm going to quit." Rachel wasn't usually a quitter. She hated not finishing something that she started. Glee club was supposed to help her, now it's only possible outcome is to make her a bigger target. She could barely take the bullying now. She couldn't take it getting worse, she just couldn't. "You know how a slushy attack feels. Would you do something that could make that worse?"

"Most likely," Thomas admitted with a smile. "I enjoy a challenge, and I love going against everybody else. It all depends on how much I liked said thing. You love singing, Rachel. Just give it some time." With an afterthought his smile widened. "Rome wasn't built in a day."

-0-

It had been a few days since Thomas went to Quinn's house for their project. This time Quinn was going to his house to finish the Augustus Caesar project. Much to her dismay, he refused to wait until later on in the evening to continue the project, meaning she had to get on his bike. It wasn't that bad, he wasn't exactly a show-off and he didn't go too fast. It was actually kind of relaxing. It gave you time to think as the wind breezed past. Surprisingly it didn't mess her hair up too much. When they pulled up, she followed him into the house,

She honestly thought that nothing could make her feel anything more for Thomas, not that she would admit to feeling anything for him, but when an adorable little boy ran at him and dived into his arms, she felt her heart flutter slightly.

"Thomas!" Cody squealed out happily, "I'm watching Pokemon. Want to watch them with me?

"Sorry, bud, I can't." He gestured to Quinn with a smirk, "This is Quinne, she's a big meanie and she's making me do lots of hard work, I really wish I could." Quinn glared at Thomas as the little boy looked at her with a frown. He looked beyond sad, his look alone made her feel bad, it was Thomas who said they couldn't wait until later. Damn him!

Screw him, she sighed with a roll of her eyes, she wasn't going to say no to the little boy. "Just one." The little boy smirked as he dropped himself to the floor. "Did he just play me?" She wasn't even going to mention the fact that once again he called her by her parent's nickname for her. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

Thomas chuckled as Cody dragged him by the hand into the living-room. "Yeah, he does that."

Quinn wasn't exactly a fan of the animated cartoon, it was badly scripted and the outcome was too obvious. If it were her choice she would much prefer to watch a horror or a comedy, but Cody was there and that wouldn't be appropriate. Not that she would watch a movie with Thomas willingly. Every so often she couldn't help but glance at Thomas and Cody, they were so adorable. Cody was practically hugging into Thomas side as he asked millions of questions and somehow watching the cartoon at the same time. Thomas was growing visibly annoyed but he continued to answer the questions with a kind smile. An honest smile.

"Quinne." Thomas barely contained a smile as Quinn glared at him. Her attention moved down to the little boy staring up at her with curious eyes. "Why are you making Thomas work really hard?"

"I'm not making him work hard," Quinn explained with a frown. Normally being the bad guy wasn't a problem, but this little boy made her feel ashamed by it. She hadn't even done anything wrong, damn Thomas. "We need something done for school and if we don't work hard then we'll get into trouble."

"Can I help?" His hopeful expression dimmed slightly when he looked back up at Quinn. "I'll make sure Uncle Thomas stops being lazy."

"Hey! I'm not lazy, I'm just preserving my energy." She was so thankful at Thomas' interception, Cody raised an eyebrow and glared at him. "Okay! I'm going. Tell your mom that we'll be at dinner."

Quinn frowned at Thomas' words. Why wouldn't he be going to dinner? It's not like he had a date to get to… right? No. She would know if he had made plans with someone from school. Wait. She hadn't said she was going to stay for dinner, though that never stopped him before.

Thomas led them to his room. If you could call it that. "I didn't say I was staying for dinner." The room was empty. The only object that made the room look used was a double blanket and two pillows that lay on the floor. "Were you robbed or something?"

"Oh. Quinne? Do you want to stay over for dinner? Yes, okay I'll let my sister know." Thomas countered sarcastically, "Sleeping on the floor is good for your back."

"Why don't you have anything else?" Thomas shrugged with a bored expression as he sat on the floor. Quinn took a seat on his blanket, it was surprisingly comfortable. "Seriously?"

"Not all of us need a teddy, Quinne" Thomas commented slyly, Quinn gasped with wide eyes. Nobody was supposed to know about her teddy, it was hidden a long time ago.

"I don't have a teddy." Thomas raised an eyebrow in disbelieve, he had seen it. A little white cotton teddy poking out of the bottom of her bed, it wasn't anything to be ashamed of. A lot of people have teddies that they hold onto, not him, but a lot of people. He didn't actually hold onto anything from his childhood or anything after that. Some clothes were all he needed… and his motorcycle. "I don't!"

"You have a serious security breach then," Thomas warned with a faux-serious expression. "someone broke into your room and hid a little sheep teddy under your bed."

"Lamb. It's a lamb." Quinn corrected absently, she felt her face warm up considerably in embarrassment as she realised what she had done. Well, he knew now.

Thomas' teasing continued for most of the afternoon, even after Quinn mentioned their project. They probably shouldn't have left it until last second, it had to be done tonight. They managed to complete it. It only took four tireless hours of pure concentration and only a little arguing. The only break took was by Thomas who graciously retrieved some drinks for both of them. The project wasn't perfect by any means, but for a half-assed effort at the last moment, it was surprisingly good.

They were closer to being friends by the time his sister told them to come for dinner. Thomas had even managed to get Quinn to talk about herself. She told him about the Unholy Trinity, the name being something else he managed to mock and tease her about, how it revolved around herself, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce. Her best friends. She explained that the three had known one another for years before High School and spent even longer explaining how their friendship worked. It was confusing but Thomas managed to keep up. She moved the topic onto her family. She didn't speak too highly of her parents, Thomas could tell that their relationship wasn't the best, but at the same time, it was obvious that she loved them. Her father was an accountant, which explained the house, it also made sense when she told him that her mother didn't work. It seemed that her family hadn't quite left the nineteenth century yet. She talked about how much she loved being a cheerleader, how much she loved being the captain. It was only when she began to explain her relationship with Finn Hudson that Thomas shut her down. He didn't need or care to know about the Quarterback.

It didn't pass Quinn that Thomas didn't mention anything about himself or his family.

-0-

Quinn thought that her family meals were filled with tension and silence. The dining room was so silent that it was actually hurting her ears. There was some sort of a conversation going on between Thomas and his sister, a bunch of glares and body language, that only made her feel more awkward.

Eventually Lily seemed to have enough. She cleared her throat softly and smiled elegantly. "I've seen so little of Thomas today; what has him so busy?" Quinn expected Thomas to answer, but one look at his scowl and death glare that targeted his sister and she knew it was up to her, her curiosity was flaring up.

"Augustus Caesar," Quinn commented with her best smile. "We actually got through it surprisingly quickly."

The older woman looked up at Quinn and smiled with appreciation. "I'm not surprised, Tom's always loved history." Quinn's smile faltered slightly, Thomas had told her he hated history. Her curious expression found Thomas quickly.

"Our father made sure I knew about history." Thomas' tone was stiff and surly, "Knowing about history and loving history are two completely separate things." He dropped his fork onto his still filled plate with a sigh. He looked at Quinn with a humourless chuckle, it made her skin crawl. "Isn't it funny how little my sister knows about me?"

"Thomas." Her tone was a clear warning, but Thomas simply scoffed at her and walked away. "I am so sorry about this." Lily reddened in embarrassment as she placed her face in her hands with a long, deep sigh.

Quinn looked up from her empty plate and shook her head cautiously, "It's fine. May I ask what that was about?" She was extremely uncomfortable, but her curiosity won out.

"My brother and I haven't spoke to one another in ten years, other than the very few words his managed to put in since he moved in. My brother is very open about his opinions, but I'm sure you've most likely figured that out for yourself." Lily frowned with growing turmoil settling in her eyes. "He just needs some time to calm down."

-0-

Thomas leant against his motorcycle with an apology written over his face in front of Quinn' house. "I'm sorry about dinner." He seemed sincere as he made eye contact with her. "I hope that we don't stop talking now that the project is complete. I enjoy your company, Quinn." Quinn couldn't help the smile that raised her lips or the slight blush that rose up her neck at the intense look in Thomas' eyes.

"I'm sure you'll find another reason to talk to me." Quinn pointed out as she glanced back to her home. "You know, I have a few hours before it's time for bed and absolutely nothing to do. You could come in and watch a movie?"

She wasn't sure why she was inviting him into her home, maybe it was the freedom that he provided her, or maybe it was just the truth to their relationship. It wasn't about popularity, power or protection. It was about the want of friendship, a desire to know one another, a sexual attraction that lingered in the air around them.

Thomas smiled as he climbed back onto his bike and placed his helmet back on. "You should call your boyfriend, Quinne. I hear you haven't spent much time with him lately."

-0-

"He's quitting." Mr Shue was leaving for some job that most likely paid him more, meaning that Glee was officially over. Rachel was not happy.

"I thought you said that he managed to get Finn Hudson to join?" Thomas had casually started to eat his lunch with Rachel in the auditorium, he hadn't asked if it was okay, he just went. "What was the point in that, if he's just quitting?"

"You would think that he would just give us a shot." Rachel sighed with a defeated look, "He just gave us hope and tore it away. I really think we could have been good."

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Thomas pointed out calmly, "I don't like teachers, but Mr Shue isn't actually that bad, I'm sure that something is forcing his hand. He doesn't seem like the kind of teacher who provides false hope."

Thomas nudged Rachel with a thoughtful look and a smile."I have an idea. Go and get everyone, you're going to sing that song."

"Don't stop believing." Rachel reminded him with a hopeless voice. "We can't do it without Finn."

"You leave Finn to me."

-–-0-

From a short distance, Thomas watched Finn. He stood in front of the rest of the football team, it might have hurt Thomas' feelings for not being invited if it were a different scenario. They had Artie, a lad stuck in a wheelchair and the glee club, locked in a porta-potty.

Thomas didn't necessarily hate Finn, he just didn't respect him. Finn earned a significant increase of respect when he opened the locker and pulled Artie out. The lad finally grew some balls. Thomas jogged over to them quickly, he didn't have long to get everything sorted. "Finn!" The two lads turned to him with surprised expressions, most likely wondering where he had come from. "I heard Mr Shue is leaving and I've devised a plan to convince him otherwise, but I need your help."

"What can I do?" Finn looked genuinely ready to help, maybe the dopey-faced lad had himself an epiphany.

"I need you to sing. I know you think that it makes you a loser, but I've seen you sing, you enjoy it." Thomas paused with a sigh, "There's a reason I don't like you, Finn. It's because you don't like a challenge, you would much rather go with the easier plan. I need you to go against that, I need you to go into the auditorium and sing. I need you to understand that some things are worth the grind. I need you to decide whether you're going to risk your reputation on something you enjoy doing, something that could make you friends, real friends."

"Okay." Thomas made a gesture with his hands. "What? Right now?"

"No, tomorrow," Thomas shook his head at Finn's confused expression. "Yes now!" Thomas jogged off to continue his plan.

Finn looked at Artie with a dopey expression. "I didn't even know he didn't like me."

-0-

"Mr Shuester." Thomas knocked on the staff door, well aware of the curious and unhappy looks he received, but he didn't have time to worry about that.

"Thomas, come in." Thomas walked up to the table with a serious expression, "What do you need?"

"Your time," Thomas revealed quickly as he took out his watch again, they barely had fifteen minutes left. "Like right now."

"I'm sorry, I'm busy," Will looked at the sandwich in his hand. "I'm eating lunch."

Thomas walked over, took the sandwich and threw it towards then bin without looking. It went in. "Not anymore. Let's go." Thomas walked out pausing for a moment until he heard Will starting to grumble angrily at him.

Sue blinked awkwardly. "I like that kid, he's got some balls."

-0-

Thomas walked into the auditorium with Will. All of the glee club was on stage, dancing to and singing Don't Stop Believing. "You created this." Thomas began with a slight scowl. "You gave them hope. They all put something into this club when they joined, not just you. Now you're leaving and it's all going to waste."

Will sighed as he took a seat. "My wife's pregnant, I don't have a choice."

Thomas sat next to the older man and nodded. "I told Rachel you would have a good reason. I'm going to tell to explain something to you, Mr Shuester. Your child is going to need a lot when it's born, it's going to be expensive, there will be a lot of physical property."

Will stared at the boy in front of him with a frown. How was this persuading him from not quitting? Then Thomas started to speak again, his tone much warmer and kinder.

"The thing that you don't seem to understand is that having the money to buy them everything they want, not need, but want, as they grow up is only a bit of the battle. The real battle is about their decisions. We all know that everybody gets stuck and everyone makes mistakes. The thing is; we look up to our parents to guide us with our decisions. Right now you're stuck between going through life as a teacher, as a director of a glee club or becoming some bitter man with a crappy job that he doesn't even like. I know I'm being assumptious but stick with me. My point is, your child is going to grow up knowing that you chose the easy way out. So why can't they?"

"I understand what you're trying to do, I understand what you're saying," Will admitted with a strong frown, the boy was causing his turmoil to worsen "but I can't afford to stay."

Thomas shook his head angrily . "No, you don't." Will quickly grew confused. "You don't understand. Look at them." The Glee members were laughing and hugging on the stage. "One day your son might be the Quarterback, the most popular boy in school and he might be the best dancer or singer in the school, and he'll hide it. He'll make the easy decision to be just the Quarterback. He'll choose the easy way, just like his father. You might have a daughter who has low self-esteem or already being bullied every single day, but she might be incredibly talented as a singer or a dancer, and she'll hide it. In fear of being mocked for it. The decision you're making right now is short term, but long term, it's the fundamental foundation of what your child will know about you. I can tell you now as a son, I would have preferred to live with the essentials and the occasional luxury, then know one of my parents gave up everything they loved because of me." By the time Will turned to look at Thomas, the younger boy was gone.

-0-

"I told you to leave Finn alone." Quinn knew Thomas was the reason that damn Glee club was still on. She had seen him in the damn audience talking Mr Shue into staying, and as amazing as he was, he was messing Quinn's life up. If he had just left everything alone, everything would still be perfect. Finn wouldn't be crushing on that thing.

"I did leave him alone, I even put my personal feelings to one side to help him." Quinn scoffed and glared at him.

"How is being in the glee club helping him? You're going to destroy him." Thomas shrugged and walked past her. It wasn't his problem. When she grabbed his arm, he turned suddenly and backed her into a locker.

"You keep grabbing my arm," Thomas observed with a sharp tone. "If you continue to do that, I might get the wrong idea." Quinn glanced around, glad to find the corridor empty. "Do you want to kiss me, Quinn?" He moved closer until his lips hovered in front of hers. "Is that why you keep grabbing my arm? You just can't stop yourself from searching for some kind of contact."

"You're insane," Quinn argued with a slight push to Thomas' chest. "I just wanted to tell you to stop interfering with my life."

Thomas nodded and laughed humourlessly. "Sure, you keep telling yourself that. I feel like I should tell you that my sister is taking Cody out of town for the weekend. It's going to be just me in the house. Not that it would matter to you, right?" He turned around and walked away with a scowl.

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	4. Lustful Jealousy

Quinn stood firm in confusion. There she stood staring at his door. She had no idea how she had gotten here. Without permission, her hand raised and knocked his door with a rushed consistency. She wanted to turn away and run before the door opened. Her nerves finally kicked in as the door swung open. Thomas stood there, his eyes skimming over her body, lust scorching intensely within his eyes, a smirk crawled over his lips.

At exactly the same time the two moved towards one another. This wasn't a time to speak, this wasn't a time for meaningful conversations, there wasn't time for a single syllable to leave either one of their mouths. Everything they needed to say to one another was spoken through eyes contact and the message was beyond clear; this wasn't about any heavy emotions, it wasn't about being friends and it definitely wasn't about falling in love.

Quinn barely had any time to breath as the kisses stopped, barely thirty seconds passed as Quinn was pulled into Thomas' house. He slammed the door shut with his foot as he pushed her against the door roughly, a flash of pain resonated through her back. Without time complain or express the pain her lips were back on his, there wasn't a single ounce of hesitation in her movements. The kisses that they were sharing weren't romantic or loving. They weren't soft, gentle or sweet, they were rough and filled with nothing but desire. Each kiss became more and more heated, the lust and desperation rushed throughout both Thomas and Quinn.

They both knew that this wasn't about loving one another. They bother knew that this wasn't about romance. They both knew that this was wrong in every single way, neither one of them cared in the moment. They just wanted to explore the sexual tension that had been following them, taunting them and teasing them.

Thomas picked her up by her waist effortlessly and waited until her legs circled around his waist securely. There was no way she was going to fall and ruin this. With a torturous pace, Thomas started to kiss down her neck. An audible moan made Thomas' lips pull into a confident smirk. Thomas was obviously more experienced than Quinn because in seconds he sucked roughly on her neck… If Quinn weren't so turned on, she might have blushed at the noises leaving her mouth. She tried, half-heartedly, to demand him to stop, she tried to explain that she couldn't be marked. It would cause too many questions, he didn't stop because it wasn't his problem. He wanted to mark her. He wanted Finn to know that he had been with Quinn. She didn't even have it in her to even attempt to complain about it again. It just felt too good.

Thomas spun them away from the door cautiously, his arms circled her back to keep her secure. It felt like years had passed before they finally entered his room. He dropped to his knees roughly before dropping Quinn on his back, soft blankets protected her from the rough impact, there was still going to be bruises in the morning. In seconds their clothes were torn off, Quinn was positive that he had ripped her shirt.

Thomas faltered at the last second, "Are you sure?"

Quinn nodded, closing her eyes in anticipation, nothing happened.

She opened her eyes with a sigh of frustration. That's when she found herself sitting up in her room; breathing heavily, covered in sweat and all alone. She glanced around her room in disbelief, her eyes showed nothing but pure need. What the hell was that?

Moonlight travelled through a tiny gap in her curtain making her sweat-coated skin gleam. Her skin was seemed to boil as though her skin was an organic radiator. She grew increasingly more flushed as flashes of her unrealistically believable dream played teasingly behind her eyes. It had felt so real. The simple explanation was that she was beyond horny; that much would be obvious to anybody who even glanced at her right now. She looked up at her picture of Jesus with a grimace. She shrugged innocently, "I know, I'm going to hell."

She climbed out of her bed cautiously. The last thing she needed right now was for her parents to check on her, that would be beyond humiliating. She practically sneaked into her bathroom before discarding her pyjamas quickly and walked into the shower. A sigh of relief left her mouth as the hot water cascaded down her hair and then onto her back. The water felt amazing. Flashes of the dream continued to haunt her, she closed her eyes with a frustrated groan. She rested her arm on the wall in front of her, her head then rested itself on her arms with a deep sigh. She was screwed.

If Thomas ever found out that she had dreamt about him, she would never hear the end of it, the teasing would never stop. Not to mention that smug grin he would have. Why did it have to be him? …He wasn't even that attractive. She rolled her eyes with a scoff. Who was she fooling? He was handsome, and smart, and kind, and confident, and… so much more.

She was screwed.

-0-

"Quinne." Quinn was swirling her cereal around her bow absently. Her senses had faded out ages ago. Her mother called out to her for the final time with a strong authoritative tone. "Sweetie." Quinn snapped out of her stupor to find her mother almost glaring at her with an annoyed expression. "Are you back to the land of the living?"

Quinn blushed awkwardly. She was thinking about that dream again. "Yes."

Judy frowned at the look on Quinn's face. "Is there something wrong, Quinne? You've been so distracted lately."

"No."

It was the truth. There wasn't something wrong, everything was wrong. Finn was crushing on the thing and the thing was crushing on Finn, her boyfriend. Even worse than that, Finn had joined the glee club. The whole point in Quinn dating Finn was to cement her reputation and now people thought he was a gay loser. They thought that she was his gay beard!

Then you have Thomas Michaelson. A boy that was able to bring her to the point of weak knees, sweaty palms and a heart beat way over the healthy level in seconds. She barely knew him, in fact, she knew practically nothing about him and yet he had ruined everything with what looked like effortless actions. Even her sub-conscious had betrayed her, forcing her to have an erotic dream about him. To think that she had gone further with him in a single dream, than she ever had with Finn in real life, was horrific.

Not to mention how strange his actions were. He was capable of doing things like pick pocketing and lock picking, both of which were criminal skills, with ease one second but then in the next second he's like a saint; helping people, he even went as far as convincing people to do the right thing. He was unpredictable… and she didn't like it.

"Is it about Finn, sweetie? He hasn't tried to pressure you into anything has he?" Judy paused with a horrified look, "You haven't done anything right?"

"What?" Quinn pushed her bowl of cereal away with a disgusted glare, it wasn't like she was planning on actually eating it anyway. "Of course not." What teenager would actually tell their parents that they had sex? Her parents would have an aneurysm if they found out about her dream. Never mind actually having sex. "School's just been really hectic, with Cheerios and all of the school work, not to mention all of the homework and that project I've only just finished with Thomas."

Quinn didn't like lying to her mother and that's why she always told her semi-truths. A semi-truth was better than a lie right? Everything she had said was the truth. School had been hectic. She was barely able to keep up with Cheerios, between keeping her team in shape and helping Coach Sylvester destroy glee, she barely had the time to practice the routines for her own benefit. Then she was working even harder at keeping Finn and Rachel away from each other, she was working even more restlessly at convincing Finn to leave Glee Club, she even offered to let him touch her breasts… over the bra. Of course, most of these problems would never have been a problem if it weren't for Thomas.

Judy nodded with a relieved smile, "Good." It really annoyed her when her mother did that, Quinn was positive that all parents do it. They say things like 'I trust you.' and 'You're old enough to make your own choices' and then you always has the 'You're smart enough not to be pressured into something you don't want to do'. What's the point in continuously throwing comments like that around if they don't actually believe it themselves? "Good. Maybe you should take a break from school and call Santana and Brittany. Sometimes you need to just go out and enjoy yourself."

That was a wonderful idea. How nice it would be to just pick up her phone and make plans with a single call. There was a time when that would be a very viable option, something that she could do in mere seconds but it wasn't something that she could still do. Since starting high school her friendship with Santana had suffered significantly. It had happened gradually, more and more every day, by the time either girl realised the distance between them it was too late.

Quinn still remembered a time when she could watch a movie with her two best friends as they ate a tremendous amount of munchies. They wouldn't even feel ashamed for it after. A single text would result in a movie night being scheduled and then another text would turn it into a sleepover. They truly were best friends… that was before Santana became her silent nemesis. Santana was her biggest threat on the social hierarchy, the only thing that kept Quinn on top was her place as the head cheerleader, if she lost that Santana would bury her.

Even if they were all still friends there was still two problems. The only thing that both Quinn and Santana both showed a common interest in was Brittany. Which of course would lead Quinn to the main reason why she couldn't simply hang out with her former best friends. Santana and Brittany were never unlinked, where you found one of them was where you found the other and whether that might be feeding ducks or a more intimate activity, Quinn didn't want to be there… nor did she feel she would be wanted there.

"They're busy." Quinn found that simple answers were always best when answering her parents. They didn't actually care about the logistics behind her answers. Quinn wasn't sure whether she should be annoyed or sad that her mother hadn't noticed the absence of her friends. The tragic truth was that her parents didn't care about her life as long as it didn't concern them or their reputation.

"What about Finn?"

"Busy." Quinn quickly noticed Judy's unimpressed scowl at her openly bored tone. Quinn didn't want to spend any more time with that moronic, dopey-faced boy. She would deny that Finn was occasionally quite sweet and, even more rarely, quite thoughtful. The problem was that if she wanted to have an intelligent conversation that lasted longer than the speed it takes for Finn to finish, she couldn't do it with Finn. Even Cody, a little boy, spoke with more intellect than Finn did. Finn would just become visibly confused and doze off in the middle of a conversation.

She wasn't even going to mention the drooling or the horrific sloppy kissing… and then there was his premature problem. As commented previously, it seriously expressed a lot when she had gone much, much further with a boy she barely knew then her boyfriend of nearly a year.

"What about Thomas?" Quinn's head snapped to Judy at an unnatural speed. She waited for any slight sign that expressed any deeper meaning behind her words. "He seemed like a very pleasant boy."

Quinn stood up calmly with her bowl. If there was one person that she really didn't want to talk about right now it was Thomas Michaelson. "He was just my partner on a project, mom. We're not friends or anything remotely friendly." She definitely wasn't going to talk to her mom about him… especially considering every time his name came up she had vivid memories of her dream flash warningly in behind her eyes.

Judy sighed as she watched her baby girl walk away. "Well, you can't stay in on a Saturday. I'm sure you'll figure something out, Quinne. You always do."

-0-

Thomas didn't actually expect Quinn Fabray to show up. He had hoped that she may experience a wave of weakness, he might have even gotten everything ready just in case but he never actually expected her to show up at his house. Of course much to his disappointment, she didn't show up. Thomas wasn't exactly one hundred percent sure what it was about her that made his blood boil. Quinn wasn't exactly the greatest conversationalist and she did whine an awful lot.

It wasn't even about how flawless Quinn looked. Truth be told when you live the kind of lifestyle that Thomas had been living for the past two years, Quinn's beauty was matched by every girl you saw and they were quite easy to get into bed. That's the thing that confused Thomas. He could quite easily go and get a beautiful girl into bed, without the whining or the agitating comments, but with Quinn he had to go through all of the whining and agitating comments… and he still wasn't getting her into bed.

It wasn't even about getting her into bed. There was a very obvious desire to get Quinn into bed but it wasn't just sex that he wanted. As sappy and horrifying as it sounds, Thomas actually wanted to talk to her, he actually wanted to learn everything there was to learn about Quinn and he really did love teasing her endlessly about anything and everything. Quinn Fabray was the easiest girl to wind up in all of existence.

The odds of Thomas making a romantic move on Quinn was slim to none. It was true that Thomas didn't like Finn but Finn was still his quarterback. That did mean that he owed Finn some amount of respect. Unfortunately, that was just enough to actually convince Thomas to not make a move. That being said Thomas was quite weak-willed when it came to girls. So if Quinn was to just show up, Thomas most likely would quickly forget anything about the legendary bro code and any respect that Thomas tried to uphold for Finn would be tossed out the window. Thomas was only human after all and humans do make mistakes… having sex with Quinn would be one hell of a mistake.

On the other side of the room, Thomas' phone vibrated loudly. It was so loud that it managed to finally make Thomas open his eyes. He had woke up at least three different times during the day and after a quick trip to the toilet he had readily fell back to sleep. Luck was on Thomas' side today, the curtains were fully closed, stopping any sunlight from coming into the room. If the sun was actually still in the sky anyway.

Thomas glanced around the room with a depressed expression, a groan left his mouth once he realised where his phone was, he lay his head back on his pillow. Whoever it was would stop calling… eventually. Except the annoying buzzing didn't fade away, instead it became more tedious and Thomas was positive he wasn't falling back to sleep again. Thomas crawled to his phone with a scowl, the number was unknown. The last thing he wanted was to be called on his weekend of solitude.

As he answered the call and raised it to his ear, music blaring nearly deafened him, Thomas was already displeased with who was calling. The music was not helping. "Hello?"

The music was so loud that the voice on the other side of the phone was practically inaudible. The music began to fade away as the caller moved away from it, cheering and laughter continued to echo angrily in the background. "Dude! Why aren't you here?

Thomas furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, he was absolutely sure that he hadn't made any kind of plans. "Who is this? I think you have the wrong number."

"It's Puck from the football team." Thomas shook his head in annoyance and frustration. Of course, it was Puck. "I've sent you like five messages and you're still not at my party."

"That certainly explains why I've recently become deaf in my right ear." Thomas countered dryly, as he closed his eyes and lay his head back down again. Thomas didn't dislike Puck. Actually, he felt quite indifferent about Puck's existence… he honestly didn't care to get to know Puck.

A long, deep sigh blasted through the phone. "Look, there's going to be booze and girls. I'm telling you that nobody can resist the Puckasaurus' parties and I know that you'll make the correct decision to come. I'm sending you the address now. Just get your ass here." Puck hung up with the last after note.

There was zero chance of Thomas going to that party. If Thomas knew one thing about girls and booze it was that they don't mix well. Every single Thomas has ever gotten drunk around girls it almost always led directly to him making a mistake. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes… especially in his sister's home.

Instead, he lay there as the minutes passed. One. Two. Three. Fifteen minutes passed as he tried to fall back asleep. The problem was that now Thomas was wide awake and that meant that he wasn't going back to sleep… no matter how hard he tried. His eyes flickered open as the searched the room for something to do. One party couldn't hurt. Right?

-0-

If anybody even put so much as a fingerprint on Thomas' motorcycle, he would find them and kill them. The damn thing was worth more than half the neighbourhood he was standing in. Thomas had to be in the sketchiest part of town. Graffiti covered the wall of nearly every single broken down house on the street.

Right in front of him was what you would imagine a teenage party would look like. The music was so loud that it actually surprised Thomas to see the house not moving like there was a violent earthquake. With the loud music came the dancing, loud cheering and laughter. There wasn't a single, fully, sober person in the house and that put Thomas slightly on edge. An English party started with a drink and ended with a punch to the face.

He pushed through the crowds of people in hopes of finding the alcohol. It took him awhile to finally find the alcohol, his height advantage didn't help the slightest. It was like finding a pot of gold but better. There was an incredible variety of alcohol that covered the counter tops, Thomas glanced around the house and chuckled, most of it must have been brought by guests. He grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan and searched for a shot glass with a smile. This was his favourite drink. Rum and coke. He filled the shot glass and gulped it down. By the fourth shot, he was making a visibly pained face as it burnt the back of his throat. He poured another. Liquid courage is always handy.

"Slow down, dude." He already knew it was Puckerman before he turned around, he had that annoying grate-y tone. The one that tells you he's trying to be a badass. "No vomiting on the rug, my mom would kill me."

"Tough few weeks," Thomas explained as he necked another shot. It really had been a long, tedious and dull few weeks. As much as he hated it, he was starting to hate his old life.

"I'm not judging. Just don't throw up on the rug." Puck laughed as he poured himself a drink. "I'm glad you came, I was hoping that you might try and convince the guys that you're not a complete asshole. We could do with winning a few games this year."

"I can't lie, Puckerman. I am a complete asshole." Thomas countered with a smirk as he gulped another shot down. His eyes scanned through the teenagers, moving from the teens making out to the teens getting high and then to the teens being pulled upstairs. "So what are you going to do when the police show up? You know, with the booze and drugs."

"There aren't any drugs here." Thomas raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Puck frowned while gesturing for Thomas to follow him. "Police don't come down here. They don't care about anything that goes on in Lima Heights Adjacent. As long as we're not harassing any real people"

Puck led Thomas into a smaller room, quiet room. He instantly recognised most of the people in the room, some of them from the football team; Mike, Matt, Karofsky, Finn and Azimo. The rest were cheerleaders, but Thomas only actually knew Santana and Brittany. He had never spoke to either one of them.

When everybody noticed Thomas had entered there was a mixture of reactions; some were indifferent and just continued with what they were doing, some groaned quietly, some even openly glared and scoffed in his direction.

"Alright." Thomas snapped with a cold but calm tone. "Let's deal with the fucking elephant in the room. I fucking humiliated three of you but let's be clear on something; it wasn't me who started it. You three did throw a very cold, very sticky, very uncomfortable drink at me. Since then I've been recruited onto the team." Thomas stared at the three responsible for his speech with a serious expression. "The thing is that I don't like to lose, and I will not lose because of some stupid little event. So those of you who have a problem with me we need to deal with it right now."

It took eight shots of rum and three shots of whisky but he managed to deal with their prides. "So what do you say, lads? We good?" Thomas stumbled slightly as he wrapped his arms around Puck and Azimo's shoulders. He had easily drunk twice as much as everyone else, he was honestly pretty surprised that he was still on his feet.

"I never had a problem with you to begin with." Puck laughed at him as he helped Thomas keep his balance. "You should slow down a little, dude."

"There's just one last thing." The big black lad, Azimo, interrupted as he pulled out a letterman jacket. "If you're serious about wanting to win the games then you'll be needing this. If you want us to respect you as a member of our team then you need to wear the jacket."

"You guys want me to wear it?" Thomas questioned awkwardly, he wanted that jacket from the start but he wasn't going to wear it if he wasn't thought of as part of the team. They both nodded with a slight cheer. "Then pass it 'ere." It was a perfect fit and it gave him a sense of comfort.

Finn caught Thomas' eye. The idiot had his trademark dopey-faced expression on while he stared across the room. Thomas followed Finn's line of sight to find out what made Finn start acting weird. He quickly found himself in a staring contest with a celestial being. Under the door frame stood the most beautiful person Thomas had ever seen, the room literally seemed to fade away, leaving him only seeing Quinn. That could have something to do with how much he had drank though.

She honestly looked flawless; her usually straight blonde hair curled over her shoulder and for once Thomas saw her without her signature cheerleader outfit. Instead, she was wearing a long pale blue dress with a cardigan. She was stunning. Maybe it was his drunken state but he was positive that her eyes were shining brighter than ever before with just a hint of lust burning away teasingly. Quinn had his complete and utter attention and vice versa. Nobody else in the room mattered in the slightest bit.

Finally, Thomas was pulled out of his drunken stupor as Puck nudged him forcefully. "I bet you can't get her number." Since Thomas had his first drink with the rest of the guys, Puck had been making comments just like this. Puck wasn't even as drunk as everyone else, he was just heavily buzzed. Thomas forced his eyes to move away from Quinn, with immense difficulty, to look at the girl Puck was talking about. She was a tall brunette with tanned long legs that were barely covered by a skirt. She was attractive but Thomas wasn't interested. Not tonight anyway.

Thomas looked back towards Quinn just in time to see her get pulled tightly into Finn's chest as he kissed her. He felt his blood begin to boil as his hands clenched into fists. Maybe if he wasn't drunk he would have handled it better but he was drunk. He gulped his rum and coke down with a scowl. "Fuck her number. I'm not planning on calling her back." Thomas pushed his empty cup into Puck's hand before walking over to the brunette.

"Karofsky, Azimo!" Puck called out with a laugh, "Ten dollars says he doesn't even get her name." The two boys stared at towards Thomas' direction and watched as the girl smiled up at him.

"You're on." They accepted in unison.

-0-

Quinn quickly realised how stupid it was to think that Thomas wouldn't be at Puck's party. It made her feel foolish. Of course, he would be here, he did join the football team after all. A strong frown pulled at her lips, he looked fifteen steps past drunk, he was barely able to walk in a straight line. She caught Thomas' eye just as Finn leant down to kiss her. For some reason it felt more wrong now than it usually did, she wanted nothing more than to pull away with a disgusted expression. Not only was is sloppy and gross but Finn stunk of alcohol.

The action made Thomas look so pained and angry, Quinn pulled back with a tight smile. She couldn't afford to have a public fight in front of everyone. Everything in Quinn screamed at her to go over and talk to him, the feeling only intensified as Puck threw his arm over Thomas' shoulder. Quinn winced internally at the smirk plastered across his face, Puckerman smirking was never a good thing. That's when Quinn finally understood what Thomas must have felt, she watched as he walked over to a brunette.

The girl didn't even go to McKinley, she didn't look remotely familiar. The girl was stunning, It didn't take long for Quinn to understand why Puck had smirked. It didn't make any sense though, Thomas didn't seem like the type of boy who slept with a girl he had just met, a growl escaped her throat as she watched the girl rest her hand on Thomas' arm with a giggle.

"Are you alright, babe?" Quinn nodded absently, Finn seemed to accept it as an answer as he turned and continued his conversation about something with Azimo. She watched angrily as Thomas pushed the girl's hair back with a smile, her anger quickly turned into rage as another brunette seemed to join into their conversation. She was just as gorgeous but much significantly smaller than Thomas and the first brunette. She scoffed when she saw them take his hand and drag him up the stairs. What kind of girl sleeps with a guy she's known for mere moments? What kind of girls had a threesome with a guy they barely knew? They might not even be having sex. They might just be going to a more quiet place to talk… yeah right.

When Finn kissed her throat, her eyes glanced at the stairs, she gave him more access. If Thomas was going to sleep with two random bimbos then she was going to sleep with Finn.

-0-

Thomas lay his head back with closed eyes. He tried his hardest to not groan as realisation hit him. This is why he didn't drink when girls were around. It always ended up with a stupid mistake, his eyes flickered to brunette one and brunette two, make that two stupid mistakes. He was more than ready to go home, his only hope was that neither girl expected more from him. "Sorry, ladies. I've got to go."

The brunette one put her hand on his bare chest as she kissed his cheek. "Or you can stay a little longer?" He felt a hand caress his leg before it rose higher, brunette two had the coyest smirk Thomas had ever seen. He still didn't know their names, he couldn't even remember if they had told him or not.

"We know you want to." Thomas shook his head half-heartedly as he dived up suddenly, more mistakes would be made if he didn't get out of there quick. Once he was standing, he realised that nothing on his body was covered. He played it off casually as he pulled his jeans on. "You're no fun." They frowned in unison, it was so tempting to climb back into bed with them. He was going to need to give Puck some money for some new sheets.

"No?" Thomas smirked at them with burning desire written teasingly in his eyes. He knew it was a terrible mistake but that didn't change the fact that he was a boy. When you have two beautiful girls laying in front of you, completely naked, you can't help but enjoy the view. "You seemed to be enjoying yourselves a moment ago."

They rolled their eyes and smiled slyly. Somehow they managed to be in complete sync with one another. "That was a moment ago."

Thomas chuckled softly. "Get dressed before Puck realises what I just did." As Thomas descended the stairs Puck, Karofsky and Azimo cheered. Thomas rolled his eyes at them, he was going to have to tell Puck anyway. Puck was going to need to burn everything on that bed. It didn't take long before he realised that Quinn and Finn had already left.

He paced up to Puck and pulled him aside. "Where's Finn?" He didn't actually care where Finn was but he did want to know where Quinn was. It was wrong because it wasn't his business but he couldn't help himself.

"He left with Quinn, I think she's finally going to give out." Thomas scowled at the thought, surely she wouldn't sleep with Finn. Would she? She didn't even like him. Puck searched Thomas' face and began to shake his head in realisation. "Dude, I know that look and I won't deny that she is sexy as hell, but she's also the girlfriend of your quarterback." He took a single look at Thomas' expression and he knew nothing he said was going to change Thomas' mind. It wasn't like he actually had to worry about the bro code. "You know what? I'm not even getting involved." He paused as he saw the two brunettes walk down the stairs. "I don't see why you can't just stick with what's right in front of you." Puck paused as he glanced back at Azimo. "Out of curiosity. Did you find out their names?"

"No." Thomas turned and smiled at the girls as they sent him longing looks. Puck was right; maybe it was easier to just have what's in front of him. He didn't usually take the easy path but there is a first for everything. "I'm taking a bottle of rum and I'm going."

"How come?" Thomas smiled and tapped Puck on the shoulder.

"I've got to convince the girls to bring me home. It's definitely a change to being the one trying to get them home."

-0-

Quinn sat awkwardly at the bottom of Finn's bed with an air of disgust. Quinn had drank quite heavily before they left, there was no way she could go through with it sober but once it actually came to going through it, her whole body seemed to sober instantaneously. She had gone to Finn's house in anger, jealousy and self-pity. It wasn't exactly the best reason to lose her virginity but she had been feeling pretty crappy with herself and seeing Thomas go off with those girls hadn't helped. They were like supermodels and she was just Quinn; She had felt fat all week because of Coach Sylvester but the second her eyes fell onto the two girls it worsened onto a completely different level. So what if Thomas was sleeping with two gorgeous brunettes, if she wanted to she could sleep with Finn. The problem was that she didn't want to sleep with Finn.

Yet here she was laying underneath him as he fumbled around. She wanted to punch him in the throat and leave, her skin crawled in disgust. By the time she finally realised that she didn't want to lose her virginity to Finn and that she really didn't want to lose it out of spite, it was too late. She couldn't back out. Fortunately, Finn did have a problem, which she remembered when he started to chant 'mailman' and she released a breath of relief. He had already finished and he hadn't even taken a single piece of clothing off. Someone was looking down on her and she couldn't be more grateful.

"I'm so sorry." Finn sat next to her in embarrassment. He was beyond humiliated, she almost felt bad for him. Almost. "We could try again or just cuddle or something."

Quinn shook her head stoically. "I think I should just go home." Finn nodded in acceptance. Finn knew that this was the end of his relationship.

"I'll drive you." He gave it one last try, pouring all of his hope into each word.

"No." Quinn snapped calmly. She did not want to spend any more time with the dopey-faced idiot, "I think the fresh air will be good for me." Finn grabbed her arm with a helpless expression.

"We're not like, breaking up or anything, right?"

If only, "What? No. I just need to be home before my father finds out I was out past curfew." It was a lie, but Finn had met her father and he was petrified by the older man.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow?" Quinn nodded with the best fake smile she could conjure up. It faltered as his kissed her.

"Bye."

-0-

Thomas lay between the two girls once more. The moonlight poured through his room, it provided just enough light to see one another. The girls hadn't asked about the missing bed or any of the other things that might be found in a normal room and for that he was thankful. That wasn't something he wanted to explain.

A circle of embers burned from Thomas' mouth, a cigar protruded from his lips. Very few people have seen Thomas smoke a cigar, it was a bad habit he picked up during his rebellion against his father. It was ironic that it was his father who supplied them, a box of cigars were always in the bottom left drawer in his desk. It was also a family tradition, all of them men smoked cigars, very rarely it took a special occasion for a cigar to be smoked. The shorter brunette, brunette two, was asleep; her head rested on his chest, her hair covered some of his scars and her arm was wrapped around his waist.

The taller brunette let her finger trail one of his largest scars, it led to an old, large burn scar. "What happened to you?" Thomas' silence told her to forget about the question. "For a man without a bed, you sure know how to smoke a cigar."

Thomas looked down at her. "Well, I come from a family of men who own beds within houses on land that belong to them. I was raised to know how to smoke a cigar. I don't smoke them very often… only on special occasions."

She raised her head to his, taking the cigar and putting it out in an ashtray to the side, she kissed him softly. She was being more than careful to not wake her friend. "What's the special occasion?"

"I've just had my first threesome." She smiled and kissed him again. "Does that not count?"

She shook her head as she kissed him once more before resting her head on his chest. "I don't think so, at least not when you'll have forgotten about it tomorrow."

Thomas chuckled in surprise, "Believe me, love. I might forget a lot of things that happened tonight but this threesome isn't going to be one of them.

She gave him a relieved smile before closing her eyes. "Good." It was barely audible but relief lingered in the air from the single word. She was the only sober person our of all three of them. She would remember everything that happened tonight. She would definitely remember Thomas Michaelson.

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.  
**


	5. Breaking Point

Thomas' phone rang causing him to grow quickly irritated. He tried his hardest to ignore it, but then it was placed on his chest.

He moved his hand awkwardly to answer it. "Hello?"

"Tom," His eyes flew open at the sound of his sister's voice. "We're on our way home, I was just wondering if you wanted to get take-out tonight or if you were up for cooking."

Thomas glanced down at the two girls cuddling into his chest with a wince. Perhaps a home-cooked meal would sate her thirst for blood. "I'll cook."

"Oh," He wasn't even the slightest bit shocked to hear the surprise in her tone. He had eaten one meal with her since he had moved in, and that wasn't exactly a success. He almost felt bad. "Okay then. Well, we just made a pit stop for Cody's dinner, so it'll only be you and me for dinner. We should be back soon." He winced again, he should have said take out.

"How long do you think you'll be exactly?"

"I don't know, half an hour, maybe slightly longer depending on traffic." Right. He could get rid of the girls by then. He glanced down at the two girls who were cuddled into him with a guilty expression, this was the awkward part.

"Cool. Bye." He hung up quickly before she could answer him back. He sighed audibly, "Shit."

"What's wrong?" He quickly he realised that he didn't know the girl's name. Alcohol is never a good idea.

"You and..." He stared at the other girl, her name was on tip of his tongue, "An...ge...la."

The smaller girl scoffed from her sleeping position. "Alice, my name's Alice. If last night wasn't about fun, I would so castrate you right now." His hands twitched to cover himself. He was relieved to hear her say it was about fun; he did not want to have that awkward conversation with them, and then the whole number thing, and then the asshole feeling for never calling them.

"Right fun." Thomas chuckled as he jumped up to get dressed. "That makes this so much easier. I need you two dressed and gone within twenty minutes, my sister is nearly home and she will be beyond pissed if she finds you here."

They both groaned as they got to their feet, still completely naked, "Okay. We'll have a shower and go." Thomas stared at his pocket watch and sighed, they had slept the day away.

Thomas nodded quickly. "Just be quick about it."

Fifteen minutes later and the girls entered the kitchen. "Don't suppose we have time for a coffee?" Thomas watched from the window as a car drove into the garage.

"No." He countered instantly as he put his hands on both of their backs and rushed them to the front door. "It's been fantastic making this mistake and all but it is time for you both to disappear," He paused with a smile. "Please."

Alice turned and kissed his cheek quickly. "We left our number in your phone," She raised smiled at him, "call us if you want to make another mistake."

"Thomas." He shut the door as gently and quickly as he could as his sister's voice echoed through the garage. He made his way into the garage with a tight smile, she would never know. "Can you get Cody to bed, please? He fell asleep moments after we got back on the road."

"Sure." Thomas moved to the back of the car and opened it gently. He picked Cody up effortlessly, how he had managed to fall asleep with a seatbelt wrapped around him was baffling. He continued talking to her in a quieter voice. "I'll start dinner in a moment, everything is ready, I'm just waiting for the steaks to reach room temperature."

She nodded with a smile. "Okay."

-0-

"Of course you would have a beer with your dinner."

Thomas looked at her in disbelief and frowned. "Firstly, it's cider, beer and cider aren't the same thing. Secondly, if you have a steak, you have a beer or a cider, I don't make the rules." He smiled as he walked into the living-room and sat on the sofa. "I just enjoy them."

"I've never done this before," Lily admitted with a smile. She had spent so long doing what her husband had wanted to do, and then Cody was born and her life was completely finished. She had to raise a child and deal with her husband's every whim. She had barely slept, barely left the house and she hadn't done anything she had wanted to do since she had married the man she loved.

"Well get used to it." Thomas commented absently, "You're living with me now. That means many home-cooked dinners and nights in front of the tv, you might even get to know me."

She frowned with a sigh. "You're my brother, I already know you."

"You knew me." He glanced at her with a serious expression. "You knew me four years ago. You don't have a clue who I am now." He paused as he turned back to the tv. "You left, remember?"

"Tom,"

"Look, let's eat our dinner and finish our drink, I've already set up the first season of O.C." He didn't wait for a response as he started the first episode.

By the end of the first episode, Thomas had already brought the plates into the kitchen and grabbed two more bottles of cider.

"What do you think?" Thomas glanced at his sister with a curiosity stirring in his eyes. This was one of his favourite series and he actually hoped he had something in common with his sister, it would definitely ease some of the awkwardness off during dinner.

"It was good." She answer honestly, "I mean it would never happen. No rich guy is going to bring a boy, who had just stole a car with his brother and then crashed it, home to his family. No mother would ever let said boy stay in her home, not even if her husband begged her."

Thomas sighed. Movies can just pull that stuff, nobody normally cares as long as its good. Yet you always get that one person. "Of course you would go straight to that and she didn't let him sleep in her home, she threw him out into the pool house." Three knocks on the door took their attentions. Thomas stopped Lily from getting up and passed her the remote. "I'll check who it is. You just continue watching."

He opened the door with a yawn. He almost wished he hadn't opened it when he saw her, he did not need any girl drama today. "Why are you here, Quinn?"

She stood there awkwardly silent as she fidgeted with her hands. "I didn't get to talk to you yesterday at the party." Thomas stood in front of her with a blank expression, he wasn't even sure if he was happy or not about her being at his door. He glanced towards the living room and prayed that his sister didn't hear Quinn.

"Give me a sec." He walked into the living room and poked his head through the door. "I'm going for a walk."

Lily looked at him with a curious gaze, "Going anywhere in particular?" Thomas shrugged with a slight shake of his head. "I'm not pressing pause."

"It's fine, I've watched it like four times anyway." On his way back to the door he picked up his jacket. He could feel the just how cold it was by the slight breeze that managed to breach the front door and Quinn had come without a coat. He opened the door once more and stepped outside before closing the door once more. He opened up the jacket for Quinn. "Here." She gave him a smile full of appreciation as she put it on, a slight touch of her skin and he knew she must have been freezing. Why she had come in just a dress he would never know.

"Thanks."

-0-

They had been walking slowly for five minutes without talking. The silence was almost a comfort. Then she spoke again, using that soft, warm and sincere tone. "I wish I had gotten to that party earlier."

Thomas didn't even glance at her. "How come?" She didn't answer straight away and he was fine with that, he enjoyed the silence, it was almost like he could pretend they were more than ex-project partners. To be friends would be more than enough right now.

"So I could have talked to you before you spoke to those girls." He wouldn't let it show, but he felt a small amount of anger rising as she made that comment. How could she say that when she had left soon after to sleep with Finn? Who she didn't even like.

"I heard you left with Finn shortly after, somebody even mentioned how you were finally going to "put out". How did that go?" He knew he shouldn't have said it the moment her movement slowed down, he had no right to make any comments. She wasn't anything to him. Hell, she didn't even seem to like him. If he had just kept his mouth shut for a moment longer, she might have given him an opening. Expressed something that would have helped him gain some kind of a friendship with her.

Then her expression turned to into a gaurded void and it made his stomach churn, it made him feel like being sick to know that she could hide her emotions so easily. He would prefer she get angry with him, scream at his disrespect and rudeness. "I only went with him because you went with them." What did that comment even mean?

"What does that even mean, Quinn?" He pulled her to a stop, he almost shivered at how cold her hand felt. She must have been outside for awhile. "One moment we're getting along, you're smiling at me and talking with so much emotion, that it actually makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel happy. Then there are moments when you're cold and bitter. It's like when you're at school you're dead inside and you want everybody to be just as sad and angry as you, but then when you're with me, there's so much emotion in your voice and in your eyes."

"Stop." Her tone held a dangerous warning and her tear-brimmed eyes gleamed as the lamppost's light reflected from them. Thomas shook his head at her with a tired expression.

"No." He took both of her hand before moving her face back towards him gently. "I can't do this, Quinn. I'm not good at games and I'm not good at showing my emotions. I'm not like every other boy in that school. My life has been full of pain, bitterness and resentment. I've spent most of my life waiting for something good to happen to me. I can't pretend that there isn't something going on here, Quinn. I won't."

"You don't know what you're saying." She snapped with as much venom as she could muster.

"I know exactly what I'm saying, Quinn." He paused to allow his anger to dissipate, then he repeated himself with a much calmer tone. "I know exactly what I'm saying. I'm trying, to be honest with you and I need you to do the same with me."

"Why? We've barely known each other for two weeks and I don't know anything about you." Quinn countered quickly, she hadn't expected a simple walk to talk into a deep, emotion filled conversation. She just needed to get away from home for awhile and Thomas was the only person that she actually wanted to see. He was the only person that made her feel wanted and safe. "What do you want from me?"

Everything about her screamed defeated. "I want you to explain to me why you can't be honest, why you can't just tell me how you feel about me. I want to know why one moment we're on our way to being friends and the next you hate me."

"I never hated you," Quinn confessed as a tear wormed its way down her cheek, Thomas quickly wiped it away with his hand. "I just can't feel that for you. You have no idea how much I want to."

Thomas bowed his head slightly, he felt bile building up his throat. He made her cry. "Why not? Don't even try and use Finn as an excuse, we both know you don't have any feelings for him."

"Because if I admit that I like you, I have to do something about it." She looked up at him finally able to see the pain that burned in his eyes. "I can't let you know me, I can't let you see the parts of me that they see because then you'll stop looking at me in that way that you do. I can't let that happen, because lately that's the only thing that gives me hope, it's the only thing that's made me feel special."

She watched as the pain faded from his eyes as they dulled dramatically. "I think it's time for you to go home."

Quinn's heart tightened suddenly as she looked into his eyes; they were completely empty, every emotion, every story that had once screamed from them. It was the price for her weakness, it was the price for being selfish. She had to be strong, no matter how much she wanted to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him, she could not give him a chance. She couldn't feel wanted, she couldn't finally feel happy, she couldn't bear the thought of gaining it, only to lose it. "I suppose it is."

Somehow they were standing right in front of Thomas' house again. Thomas glanced up at the sky and noticed how dark it actually was. "Come on." He opened his door and dragged her into the house. "Wait here for a moment." Quinn nodded cautiously as he disappeared into the living-room. She really hadn't expected a walk to be so heavy, so emotionally draining. She had never been so open and honest in her life, and he didn't even have a clue.

Thomas shut the door to the living-room with a sigh. He leant his head against it and closed his eyes. He honestly wished he could just pick up his bag and disappear once again, but Lily's husband could still show up at any moment.

"Are you alright, Tom?" Thomas chuckled humourlessly and shrugged.

"If by alright, you mean feeling completely normal? Then yes." He turned around and picked Lily's keys up from the coffee table. "I need to drive Quinn home."

"Where's your bike?"

"At a friend's, I had a few to drink last night, I ended up walking home." He had actually been driven by Alice or maybe it was the other one, the one person at the party who hadn't drunk. It had been the longest, most intense ride in a stranger's car in his life. "I'll be back in twenty minutes if that."

He moved into the hallway, where Quinn stood awkwardly with a frown. "I'll drive you home."

-0-

By the time he returned home, Lily was just hanging up the phone. Thomas dropped onto the sofa with a sigh. "Who was that?"

Lily looked at him with a serious expression. "Dad." Thomas tensed visibly and he moved to get back up. "Don't you dare move." He took a single glance at her expression and moved back. "He was just telling me about his recent business trip, actually he was just telling me about how he returned home to find you gone. He was telling me how your doctor has been trying to get in contact with him, something about how you haven't refilled your medication in two months."

Thomas scoffed with a lifeless laugh. "You say that like it matters. You didn't care for the last four years, and neither has he."

"Of course I cared. I never stopped caring." She paused with a sigh of regret. "After everything that happened, Alexander thought we should move home." Thomas knew what his expression looked like right now. He had felt it enough, he had seen it in the mirror enough. That blank look. He wasn't angry, upset or sad, he wasn't anything. He had been fooling himself into thinking he had a shot of feeling happiness again. Feeling empty was all he had. He should know that by now.

His lifeless voice made Lily's eyes water in moments. "After everything that happened? You mean when mom died. You mean when Mom and I were driving to the store, to get me ice cream and she was murdered. You mean when our car was smashed into and it flipped." He slowly started to open his shirt. "You mean when I got these? You mean when I watched mom burn alive because someone chose to save me from the burning car, instead of her?"

"Tom." Lily's face was flooding with tears. She shouldn't have left him. She shouldn't have been so easily convinced to move when her little brother had obviously needed her. She had grieved too, but she hadn't witnessed it, she hadn't felt responsible. When she had found out he woke up from his coma, she had wanted to go back, but Alex had told her no.

"No amount of drugs will ever make me forget that. No amount of drugs will take these scars away. No amount of drugs will take the memory of waking up scared and alone in a hospital room. No amount of drugs will stop me from remembering how for years I was alone as I learned how to do everything all over again. I'm good at pretending, Lily, those drugs break me. You don't even want to know what I was doing when I was on them. They made me way worse than I already was. I tried to mend our relationship today, I thought it was going well. Don't ruin it."

As Thomas stood at the door, Lily finished their conversation. "I'm contacting the doctor in the morning, you can talk to him about it."

-0-

"Did I tell you that you made me twenty dollars? " Thomas was holding onto his knees as he gasped for air. Practice had been especially rough today. He knew he was supposed to be the 'secret' weapon, but the coach couldn't just make him work harder. He was thankful for the distraction, but he was sure if he was knocked to the floor one more time, a rib would definitely break.

Puck tapped his back roughly with a laugh, he passed Thomas a cup of water. "How?" He barely had enough time to say that single word before he gulped the water down. He was beyond dehydrated.

"Well, I did what a smart gambler would do. I bet that you wouldn't get those girl's names." Even though that was how much his new bed set cost him, but he wouldn't mention that. Thomas was his boy now, and if a new bed set was the cost of Thomas getting laid, then so be it.

"Are you serious?" Puck shrugged with a grin. "I slept with them both, twice and I know one of their names."

"Dude, you look like you're contesting against Rachel Berry in the dramatic department right now. Practice wasn't that bad."

Thomas shook his head at Puck with disbelief. "When you have half of a football team charging at you, some actually tackling you to the ground and you're having to tackle others to the ground and try to protect a skinny lad who seemingly never loses energy, you can make that comment. Until then, keep your mouth shut." He gulped down another cup of water before heading into the locker room. "Where did those girls come from? I haven't seen them around."

Puck shrugged with a confused expression. "I don't know. I only invite the team and then they invite people, and then they invite people. Puckzilla's parties are always epic, they'll probably be at the next ones."

Thomas laughed at Puck who stared at him with a serious expression. "Puckzilla? You're not serious are you?" Puckerman was a good lad, abrasive, crude, slightly irritating and he could be an asshole at school, but he was honest and respectful when it mattered.

They had built a friendship, it wasn't exactly like they were best friends or anything, but they spent most of their time at school talking to one another. They had spent most of it joking around or mocking one another, but they had also talked about deeper topics like family. Thomas had listened to Puck as he talked about his family; his father had split leaving him, his mother and his little sister alone. He also added how it was for the best because his father was a deadbeat anyway, he had even made small comments about how his father had hit his mother on occasion. His father leaving meant that Puck had to grow up quickly, he had to look after his family. That was more than enough to gain Thomas' respect. Even if he did on occasion do something childish or stupid.

Thomas had started to open up about his sister, normally he wouldn't, it wasn't his place, but Puck listened and for that he was grateful. He was even more grateful when Puck didn't bring it up again.

The moment they reached the locker room Puck tore his top off. "I couldn't call myself anything else with these bad boys," He tensed his arms up with a cocky expression. "I would show you the other reason they call me Puckzilla, but I don't roll that way."

Puck's cocky expression was dampened massively as Thomas took his top off. Thomas was bigger than Puck easily, and he had the whole, 'Girls dig scars' thing going for him. When he realised he was still staring at Thomas he coughed dramatically and shook his head. "Not a chance," Thomas continued taking his clothes off as he faced the locker before wrapping a towel around his waist. He turned and faced Puck with a serious expression. "I don't care how you roll, as long as you aren't "rolling" towards me."

-0-

The day had only just begun after practice, which meant that Thomas was going to be dragging himself around throughout all of the school day. He was barely even thinking as he walked through the halls, he was honestly starting to be thankful that his reputation made people move out of his way. His shower had brought him back to his usual thoughtful mode, and the only thing, other than a certain blonde beauty, on his mind lately was home. That word was complex; Home. What is a home?

Thomas had lived in mansions, penthouses, even the occasional castle, each of them was for a short period of time. He was born in this very town, Lima, Ohio. Up until he was two years old, that's when his father moved them to England. They lived in London for awhile and from what he could remember it was good. They were only there until he was six and then he moved in with his grandmother with his sister. A small little house in the middle of a random road next to a small shopping area. That was home. That was where he felt safest, in that small house, with his nan. Though eventually, his mother seemed to grow annoyed at the concept of leaving him and his sister behind as she followed her husband and so she took them with her every so often. Rome, Italy, Greece, Jamaica and so many other places.

It was nice, he was with his family, but he never actually got to go out and explore anywhere. Technically he had been around the world, but he had only every truly explored Birmingham. One day he would return to those places. After the accident with his mother, Lily moved back to the place she called home and his father never really came back from his business trips, so for the following two years he was locked up in some fancy house with maids and butlers serving his every whim. It was miserable. What he would've done, what he would do to have his mom wrap her arms around him once more. To even sit at his nan's kitchen table as she talked to him animatedly about something he couldn't care less about, with a nice cup of tea in his hands, would be lovely right now. That was home, and he missed it.

The only reason he was still here was because of Alexander. He was here to protect his family from that man, but he was also here to deal with him. No man should ever lay a hand on a woman, it shows cowardice and weakness, It was just disgusting. To put a hand on somebody Thomas Michaelson cared about, now that, was just pure stupidity. The first thing Thomas did when he arrived in Lima was brought Quinn to a restaurant, Alexander's restaurant, which he destroyed. The only thing left were two steaks. He wasn't going to waste them. He had hoped Alexander would have shown up.

A thump to his arm tore him from his stupor. "Are you alright, Dude?" Puck stood next to him with a worried expression.

"I was before you punched me." Thomas countered with a wince. "What was that for?"

Puck shook his head with a shrug as he gestured to the students who were currently firmly against their lockers. "Well, you looked like you were about to kill someone, and I won't lie, I think I wet myself slightly."

"I was thinking about Alexander."

Realisation filled Puck's face before he nodded. "Makes sense." He grabbed Thomas' arm to stop him and waited until everyone had flooded back into their classroom. "We could go and teach him a lesson." Puck wasn't exactly the first to use his head, but even after giving it some thought, albeit a short amount, he had still given it some thought. A man who hits women and children deserved a beat down.

Thomas stared at Puck with a serious expression and for once, he didn't care that a voice told him, 'Don't be stupid!'. For the first time, in a long time, he threw the voice that sounded just like his mother to the wind and he nodded. "You sure you want to be there for that? We could get caught, I don't want you getting arrested for my sake."

"I'm sorry Officer, I was just driving around and I saw my friend, I tried as hard as I could to convince him not to hit that man." Thomas shook his head at Puck.

"Fine. If you see the cops you just go. No hesitations." Puck nodded with a serious expression, a tiny part of him knew he had just messed up, but a much bigger part thought of a three-year-old getting slapped. The guy deserved what was going to happen.

-0-

Thomas was finally laughing. Watching glee club singing 'Push it' could do that to you. What the hell were they thinking?

"Mr Shue was trying to make us do, 'Disco'." It wasn't exactly the best explanation but Thomas nodded in acceptance anyway. He was sitting with Artie. He had fifteen minutes left before he was going to meet Puck by his truck.

"So you rebelled." Thomas continued for him, "I can tell you right now, you guys most likely bought yourselves some respect."

Artie smiled with a proud expression. "Yes, we did."

"Yep." Thomas tapped Artie's arm with a smile. "You also ruined your reputation with the principal, every sane parent and you gave everybody one more thing to mock you for."

Artie's smile dropped quickly in realisation. "We probably shouldn't have sung 'push it'."

"No." Thomas chuckled as he stared down at his pocket watch. "You really shouldn't have."

Artie looked at the watch. "How old is that thing?"

"Well I got this from my grandfather and he said it went through as many generations as anyone could remember. Supposedly, it was made in the fifteenth century, but my grandfather liked to drink so who knows." It was the last thing his grandfather ever gave to him before he had died. It could have been a plastic, twenty pence watch for all he cared.

"How much do you think it's worth?"

Thomas sighed as the bell rang out angrily. "Not enough to make me even consider selling it."

-0-

Puck and Thomas had decided to wait until it was darker. They had even devised a semi-plan. They were going to do the old 'egg and flour' trick to pull the man out of his house. They sat outside of the man's house as they finished another beer. "So here's the thing; if anything happens and we do get brought in by the police, you need to keep your mouth shut. Within a few hours, there will be an army of lawyers getting us out without a scratch to our records." Thomas glanced at Puck and smirked. "Or an additional scratch in your case."

As Puckerman threw the eggs at the windows, Thomas threw water balloons fill with flour directly over it. Thomas walked up to the side of the door and waited. As the door opened, a tall lean man came out with a metal baseball bat, "You little fucker, I'm going to kill you." As he moved towards Puck, Thomas grabbed him and threw him back into the house, Puck walked in after without hesitation. He shut the door behind him softly.

Puck felt sick. Talking and acting were much different. He knew the man deserved a beating, but Thomas hadn't stopped at a few punches. Alexander was barely able to keep his eyes open, he was barely able to breathe. Puck was just about to interrupt as Thomas pulled a photo out and crouched over Alexander to show it to him. It was a photo of Lily in a horrible state. "You made the mistake of doing that to my sister. She was pregnant." Alexander' eyes began to close, Thomas smacked him across his face. "Don't you dare close your eyes. Look at it!" Puck had turned around before he threw up.

When Thomas had said Alexander had hit his sister around, he had thought a slap or a push. That picture was going to cause problems going to sleep. No wonder why Thomas had lost his mind the moment the door was shut. If somebody had done that to his sister, the fucker wouldn't be breathing.

Thomas left it on Alexander's chest as he stood up. "If I see you around my sister or nephew again, I'll be back. I will flay you alive and before you bleed out, I'll fucking cut your organs out." Puck didn't say anything to Thomas as they went outside and got back into the truck. He wasn't sure what he could say. He wasn't sure Thomas had to worry about Alexander ever again, there was no way he was going to survive that.

As he reached the corner of the road, Thomas told him to slow down, to a casual relaxed speed. Puck was anything but relaxed. He still followed Thomas' instructions. As he turned off an ambulance drove straight past them. "How did they know?"

"I called them." Puck's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced at Thomas. "I washed my hands and then I called them."

"Why?" Thomas stared out of the window, he glanced up to the stars and sighed. That damn voice had gotten the better of him.

"I'm not a killer, Puck. I'm not some mercenary, assassin or ninja. I'm just a lad, whose sister made some shitty mistakes, and I had to show him what happens to people who hurt the people I care about." Thomas' blood was boiling, he wanted nothing more than to go back and finish him off.

"Remind me not to hurt somebody you care about." Thomas stared at him before nodding.

"You won't need reminding, Puck. If you do, then I didn't just do my job properly."

Puck stayed quiet. He didn't want to risk saying something wrong when Thomas was so pent-up on rage. He didn't think Thomas was insane or anything. If he was being honest with himself, Thomas had scared him, but he also had a point. He was supposed to be scary, he was supposed to be lethal and after he pulled that photo out, he completely understood.

It didn't change the fact that Thomas still had all of the anger building up. He pulled over in front of Thomas' house but locked the doors before Thomas could get out. "Sometimes when I need to blow off some steam or when everything's becoming too much for me, I go to a fight club. If you want, I can bring you the next time I get told about the location."

"A fight club?" Thomas chuckled at the concept of Puck getting into a cage with another guy. If his fighting name was Puckzilla, that would be something he would have to witness. Then he glanced at Puck and realised just how serious he was. His smile dropped instantly. "You're serious?"

"Deadly."

"I'll pass. I don't fight somebody unless I'm provoked. It was an oath I took awhile back. I very rarely break it."

Puck turned to search for his spare t-shirt. "Here, I imagine the blood won't go down well in there." After Thomas changed the tops, he finally realised how much blood was on his top. He had gone further than he had thought. "You should wipe your eyebrow, he got you pretty good with that bat."

Thomas climbed out of the truck with a groan, Alex was faster than Thomas had expected. He had managed a powerful smack to Thomas' ribs, and he had got his face pretty good too. "Thank you." Puck shrugged with an absent look. "I'm serious, Noah. You had my back tonight, and now I've got yours. Any time, any place, you call me and I'm there."

"I love you too, Tom. I just, I don't think we would work out. I'm way out of your league."

Thomas chuckled in disbelief and slammed the door forcefully. "Fuck you, man."

The front door swung open, the porch light beamed onto Puck's truck. His sister stood directly in the middle. "Dude, your sister is a total MILF."

"Leave." Thomas warned with a vicious scowl, "Now."

-0-

"You dim wit." The rage was something he expected, but the disappointment? That just wasn't right. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

He sat at the kitchen table as Lily wiped the blood from a gash above his eyebrow. He was lucky she knew how to stitch him up, she had done it enough for Alex. "Is it me you're actually worried about?"

Lily sighed as she inserted the needle into his flesh. "Yes. When I saw my brother was wincing as he took three steps, I was worried. I am worried. The Thomas I used to know wouldn't have done this. He wouldn't have attacked Alex." She almost wanted to beat sense into her little brother. "He would have stayed at home with his family, he would have listened to them and he definitely wouldn't have left Alex half dead in the hospital."

"That boy died four years ago." He winced as he felt her push the needle in again. "I did what I did tonight to protect my family, I'm not always going to be here and I don't trust you to turn him away. I wish I didn't have to do that to him but he deserved it and he definitely needed a reminder of who you were." She pulled out some scissors and Thomas closed his eyes as she cut the thread. "I think you've forgotten who you were too."

"I haven't forgotten."

"Oh really?" Thomas scoffed at the roof. "The sister I remember smashed a brick of Sam Edward's face for touching her arse, she didn't take shit from anyone." Lily chuckled at the memory, she faintly remembers the look of shock on his face after. Thomas was right. At some point, she had lost her fight. "I think I like this Lily more. She's stronger."

Lily smiled at Thomas and shook her head. "I see you're still always trying to worm your way out of trouble. It was a good effort." She had already wrapped his chest up, her work here was complete. "Well other than the loss of your handsome scar-less face, you'll be fine." She glanced up to her hanging cloak as a yawn escaped her mouth. It's time for bed, I think."

Thomas grabbed his sister's arm before she could leave. This was something that needed to be said. "You are stronger, Lily." He looked away from her in guilt, "You need to be because if you even go to see him with any intention that might cause him to enter this house, I'm taking Cody and I'm going to disappear."

"You wouldn't." But she already knew he would. Her brother loved Cody, he would hand his life over a million times over for the little boy. He would do anything to protect what was left of Cody's innocence. And after tonight, she knew that no price was too high. It was in that moment, that she realised just how grateful she was to have her little brother in her home, she knew her baby would never be hurt again.

-0-

Thomas almost felt like a creep as he sat at Cody's bedside. He needed to remember why he had gotten his hands bloody. One look at Cody's innocent little face snuggling up to a teddy of Peter Pan told him everything he needed to know. What he had done was worth it. He would do it all over again.

The vibrations coming from his phone seemed to scream out into the eerily quiet room. When he saw her face, he sighed and closed his eyes, he pulled every ounce of strength he had together, and it was almost enough to decline the call. Almost. "Hello?"

"It's Quinn."

"I know." He didn't mean to come off in such a cold way, but that's just how his tone came out. Just lifeless, cold and clipped.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was soothing, soft and sincere. It didn't change the fact that he didn't have a chance with her. "I really am. I understand that you're angry and I suppose you have the right to be."

"I'm not angry, I'm just, tired."

"Yesterday was horrible. I guess I was wondering if we could start again, or just forget that it happened."

"No." Thomas was serious when he said he didn't play games. "I like you, Quinn. It's that simple. I know you like me too. You can't make all of the decisions. You've got to give me a chance."

"I can't." He wasn't going to repeat this again. He wasn't in the mood.

"Then all I have left to say is; Goodnight, Quinne and Sweet Dreams."

He hung up and turned his phone off. He didn't want any more distractions. For now all he needed was to know Cody was fine. He glanced towards the book on the floor and picked it up. Peter Pan was always the thing to comfort him as a boy.

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	6. Bruised Prides

Thomas had quickly found himself in bed rest, his head had been throbbing ever since Alex had managed to get the lucky swing, not to even mention how he could barely take seven steps before he doubled over in pain and his chest tightened. He should probably go to hospital, but there wasn't even the slightest chance of that happening. He despised hospitals.

It did mean that he had taken a few days off from school. There had been a lot of changes since he had last been, Rachel of all people had been keeping him filled in. That little diva was spending more and more time with him lately, and it was surprisingly comforting. There wasn't any pressure on their friendship, no budding romance, no need to keep a certain image, he could just relax and be himself. As long as he plays the piano at her request, _of course._

It was on the second day of school he missed when Rachel had actually shown up. Lily had been out doing something and the door had knocked, at first he wasn't going to answer it, but it quickly aggravated him. So he had traipsed to the door with difficulty to find the tiny brunette standing with a frustrated expression. She hadn't even looked up at him before she started with her lecture.

"Barely two weeks with Noah and you're already skipping school." Thomas hadn't even managed to get a word out, the sun was glaring down at him, seemingly burning his eyes. He was struggling to breath from finishing his short trip to the door. "I honestly thought that you took your education seriously and for the second day this week I've been without my mathematics partner. I hope you have a good reason because you know I struggle with mathematics and you were starting to help me understand,"

"Rachel." His voice was weak and rough, he hadn't spoke since his conversation with his sister. Thomas had made sure Cody didn't see him in his beat up state. Cody thought Thomas was going to protect him, that nobody could hurt him as long as his uncle was with him, and that was the way it was going to stay.

Rachel finally paused her lecture for a moment to look at Thomas. He sounded ill, it was more than a good enough excuse to not attend school, she almost felt silly. He had given her his number, she could have just called. Then she saw his face and she visibly winced as she gasped. "What happened?" Thomas' face had bruised throughout the following hours after the incident with Alexander, but over the time it had turned yellow and blue.

"I'm sorry that I missed maths." He wasn't going to tell her what he had done. If he had learnt anything about Rachel over the short time he had known her, it was that she hated violence. "You don't need me though Rachel, you got yourself into AP mathematics, you are more than capable of continuing."

"That might be so, but I enjoy your help." Rachel let herself in and moved past Thomas, but after a slight accidental nudge, he nearly fell to the floor. She helped him keep balance. "I'm so sorry."

Thomas chuckled, it was forced and painful, as he shook his head slightly. "It's fine. I've been through worse." Rachel helped him to the sofa.

"I'm going to get you some water."

"It's," She had already disappeared through the door. "alright." He leaned his head back on the sofa with a sigh. He hadn't thought Rachel would be the one he spoke to first. He had hoped it would be Quinn. The blonde hadn't came to his house or called, after there last phone call he hadn't heard a peep from her. Puck had called and agreed to have his back at school. There was a match coming up and Thomas _was_ going to win it. He'll be fine in a few days.

Rachel came back with a tall glass of water. She handed it to him on the sofa with a worried sigh. "Sip."

"Rachel, I'm fine." She glared at him and pointed to the glass. He took a sip, barely containing a choked cough, and smiled. "See."

She hadn't left. Instead she had pulled out her homework with a an annoyed sigh and smiled at Thomas. She had continued to spend her free time at his house over the following few days. They spent most if it in silence, Rachel would make a comment or two about glee, school work and an occasional comment on Quinn or Santana. It bothered Thomas that he wanted Quinn. It really did. He knew that she was a bully, he knew that she was never going to stop being a bully, she liked the power _too_ much. Yet he couldn't stop his thoughts from going back to the girl. She had joined Glee, with Santana and Brittany and he already knew that it couldn't be good.

-0-

"I tried to tell you, Rachel." He had missed an entire week of school before the bruising had finally vanished. Quinn and Santana had convinced her to hire a tiny man called Dokata Stanley. Thomas had tried to tell her not to trust the cheerleaders, but her need for success and popularity had scorched her common sense. "You know how I feel about, Quinn, but even I know she's kind of a bitch. Her actions are full of selfish desire."

"I just didn't want glee club to self-destruct." Rachel sat on his bedroom floor with a frown. "I ended up doing it instead."

"No you didn't." Thomas countered quickly from his position in his bed. He had woke up to the diva sitting on the bottom of his blanket with her earphones in. _He wasn't crept out at all._ He had made the mistake of moving the blanket over his head, she had seen it with her eagle vision and quickly explained what had happened. Something about Mr Shuester's dancing and then he had listened much more closely when Quinn's name had been mentioned in her long winded rant. "At least it wasn't just you. Everybody in glee had a chance to refuse the option of getting Stanley, everybody watched Mr Shue walk away, _everyone_ in glee is responsible."

"Finn would disagree." Thomas sighed as he sat up. It was almost amusing to see Rachel redden as she glanced away.

"You're such a pillock." Rachel gave him a questioning look. "An idiot. You are beautiful, smart and talented and yet you chose the one lad that is in a relationship and has the least in common with you." He stood up in his boxers, not caring that Rachel was quickly growing red.

"You say that but it's not like there are boys lining up." Finn was the first and _only_ boy that had ever shown any interest in her. The fact that he was in a relationship seemed so unimportant at the time, when they kissed she had felt nothing, but he had shown interest and an obvious desire for her. It didn't hurt that he was her leading man and that if she had managed to convince him to date her, her popularity would've moved up, even the slightest amount would be enough.

"Do you know what people get when they sit around and whine?" Thomas stared at her as he put a pair of jeans on.

Rachel already knew the answer, the question had been asked more than once. "Nothing."

"That's right." Thomas agreed quickly with a serious expression. "Nothing. You told me that you worked hard to get where you are, Rachel. You told me that you worked tirelessly to become as good of a singer as you are. You didn't sit around and whine when you lost a competition, did you?"

"No." Rachel pouted as she received a lecture, she wasn't supposed to be on the _receiving_ end of a lecture, as she looked away from the intense look in his eyes. "I worked harder."

"Exactly." Thomas glanced at his door as his sister's voice raised slightly higher than usual. "I think your biggest problem is your wardrobe." Rachel glared at him. "I know. You didn't have a female role model to teach you how to dress, but I've got your back now."

-0-

When he said he had her back; he meant he was going to leave his bedroom, convince his sister to take her clothes shopping and then fall back onto the floor and quickly return back to sleep. Thomas had decided he was done. He was no longer going to sit around and wait for Quinn. He was never good at waiting around. He definitely wasn't going to tell Rachel to stop doing nothing and then _continue_ to do nothing.

Rachel came back later on in the evening with ten different bags of clothes. Ten. When he said get some new clothes on him, he had expected a new outfit or two.

"You told a girl to change herself, be grateful I didn't convince the girl to buy a car." His sister _could of_ convinced Rachel to buy a car. He didn't want Rachel to change, she didn't affect his popularity in anyway. Not that anyone would say anything about them being friends anyway. Being a big athletic guy has some advantages. "You're taking her to dinner as well." He wasn't even going to argue the point.

His car had been brought to his sister's home, his home, after the incident with his ribs. It was _dangerous_ to drive around on a motorcycle, 'because _nobody_ ever gets hurt in car accidents', he had scoffed while making the comment. Still, his relationship had gotten much better with his sister, he wasn't going to ruin that by arguing with her. Plus it helped in moments like this, when you were going to dinner with somebody who _definitely_ could not be convinced that getting onto a motorcycle is not dangerous. Especially after he had told her his broken rib came from an accident on his bike… wasn't his smartest move.

The thing is, Rachel wasn't actually that bad, she looked pretty hot in one of her new dresses and she had calmed down considerably over the short time he had known her. She seemed to talk a lot more when she was nervous, when she felt like she had something to prove. He wasn't planning on asking her out, but if he hadn't of met Quinn on the first day, he might have considered it. She was beautiful, even in those weird looking clothes, but in the clothes his sister had convinced her to buy, it was worth the amount he could only imagine it had cost.

"Rachel." He had felt his protective nature pull at him the first time he had heard Puck apologise to her. It was his natural instinct to protect the 'little people'. When she walked out of his sister's bedroom with a professional amount of make-up and a dress that made every single thing about her body seemingly intensify, he felt his protective urge worsen. If she went to school like this every single boy would be all over her, and not one of them are good enough for her. "You look speechless."

Even through her make-up her face became a light shade of pink. "Thank you."

Thomas held his arm out with a calm smile. "Well then, m'lady, I've been told to have you there by seven." Rachel laughed at the sinister glare Lily was sending Thomas who shrugged carelessly.

-0-

Thomas was a little embarrassed by his car. It wasn't exactly a "banger", but it wasn't exactly a super-car either. It had a lot of headroom though, which is why his nan had brought it for him. His height and broadness caused a lot of problems when it came to everyday cars, hence why he had his motorcycle.

"I imagined something more flashy." Rachel didn't mind the car, in fact she quite liked it.

Most rich people tend to throw their wealth into everybody else's faces, expensive jewellery, expensive cars, expensive suits, whatever they can use to prove that they are rich. Thomas didn't do that. His top was three pound, basically four dollars, his watch that he carried everywhere was a gift from his grandfather his motorcycle and car had both been gifts as well. In fact he seemed quite cheap when it concerned himself, but he hadn't cared the slightest when his sister had shown him the receipt. 'What's the point in having money if you can't treat your friends?' That was all he had said before he disappeared to play with Cody again.

"It was a gift from my nan. She's not exactly a millionaire, but she remembered when I was growing up, I had problems with getting into taxis, I would have to sit down and then get my legs in. So she brought me this." Thomas smiled, and for the first time it didn't look forced, it was nice, nicer than his usual charming smile.

"She seems like a lovely woman." Thomas nodded sadly, "Was she not?"

"What?" Thomas asked in disbelief, "She was. She was the best nan someone like me could have. She was there for me in every possible moment that she could, she hugged me when I was sad, soothed my fears when I was scared and when I was happy, she would kiss me on the cheek and tell me to remember those moments. 'A single happy moment can defeat a thousand bad ones.'"

"You don't seem to pleased about it." She felt like she was on a dangerous path, but she couldn't help but let her curiousity run free. Thomas was her first real friend, she wasn't sure where she was supposed to stop, but she was sure that Thomas would tell her when she hit the end line.

"I just miss her. I haven't seen her in years." Thomas pulled over in front of breadstix with a smile in Rachel's direction. "She would love you, she loves singing and she can be obnoxious and loud too… in a lovable kind of way."

Thomas got out of the car and walked around to open her door. "So why haven't you seen her in so long?" Thomas' frown returned as he walked into the restaurant in silence. He didn't answer her question and she took it as her path to change the topic. Especially when her eyes caught sight of a really bad future. "Quinn, Santana and Brittany ahead." She wouldn't admit it, but her first thought was that he would hide her, something she knew Finn would have done.

Her fears were appeased as he shrugged and smiled at her. "So? I'm chilling with my friend tonight, nobody is going to ruin our fun, Rachel."

They found themselves being seated quickly. "So this must seem less fancy than your usual restaurants." Thomas smiled and her and raised an eyebrow questioningly, "I just mean that since you come from a rich family, this must seem a bit lame."

"I don't normally eat at fancy restaurants. Throughout most of my life, it's either been room service, home-cooked dinners or on a very rare occasion my nan brought me to McDonalds." Rachel smiled at his words. Thomas wasn't exactly the most stereotypical rich boy. "What?" His eyes held a certain amusement, even if his serious expression tried to hide it.

"Nothing." She chuckled softly before sitting up slightly straighter. "You're just different. I find myself more surprised after each one of our interactions."

"Why?"

Rachel's expression quickly intensified in thought. "It's just that throughout most of my life, I've been bullied by Neanderthals and over-privileged idiots."

"For a reason, manhands." Suddenly Santana was sitting next to them with an angry look. "It's because you're loud and annoying, I can hear you on the other side of the room, not to mention how you keep going after Quinn's things. It wasn't alright when it was with Finnept, and it's still not alright with this handsome,"

"Excuse me, Santana." Santana turned with surprise written all over her features.

"You can wait your turn." Her tone held as much bite to it as she could muster, and he didn't even blink. She didn't like that.

"Now it my turn." He picked up a napkin and used it to wipe his spotless hands. "I want to make something very clear, I don't belong to Quinn. Even if I did date her, I wouldn't belong to her. I don't belong to anyone. Secondly," He paused with enough time to maximise suspense, Rachel almost beamed with pride, not that she would show it. Santana very much scared her. "I want you to remove yourself from this booth right now." Sanatana raised her finger but Thomas gently, with little force, pushed it back onto the table. "How's your father Santana? Is he still living up in that fancy house?" Thomas knew this day would come; the day in which he would be challenged by at least one of the three in charge, but considering Puck was his friend and Quinn was _something_ _else_ _altogether_ , that only left Santana. So he found out what he would need to know to keep her out of his way.

"What are you talking about?" Thomas noticed Brittany walking over to their booth, Quinn sat at her booth with a confused frown.

"It would destroy your reputation if someone like Jacob Israel was to find out about that wouldn't it?" Santana scowled with visible rage marring her elegant features. "What's wrong? I imagine a girl like yourself, from Lima Heights Adjacent, wouldn't let a cat catch her tongue."

"A cat caught your tongue? Why didn't you tell Lord Tubbington he would've defended your honour." Thomas smiled at the blonde standing next to them, Brittany Pierce. She was very, different. She had a knack for saying the weirdest things, but she was kind and oddly sweet, considering her choice in company.

"A cat didn't do anything, B. He was just using a metaphor to get his point across." Santana explained with an annoyed glare.

"I think your wrong," Thomas chuckled as Brittany whispered the words into Santana's ear. "He didn't point across anywhere."

"I'm afraid not, Brittany, I was in fact getting my point across. I won't tolerate bullying in my presence." A waiter walked over to the table anxiously and put the two plates down onto the table. "I believe it's time for you to return back to your own table, Santana." Thomas pulled out his wallet and gave her a note. "Dinner's on me."

Santana took the note with a smile and stood up. "I see why Q likes you."

"I don't think she does." Thomas commented absently, "Otherwise she wouldn't have let you embarrass me in front of my company."

Rachel smiled at him behind her hand. She was not going to risk Santana seeing her. "I've never seen anyone stand up to Santana, especially not for _me._ " Nobody had ever defended her. Not even her fathers, 'Be the bigger man, one day you'll be there boss!'. Except that rule didn't apply to her. She wasn't a man and in five years she wouldn't even be in the same state as ninety-five percent of the people she knew. Though eighty percent of them were most likely stuck in Lima for the rest of their lives. She had wanted the satisfaction of seeing someone put in their place for talking inappropriately to her. "You had the control in moments, and yet you paid for their dinners?"

Thomas pushed the plate towards Rachel who quickly noticed everything on it was vegan friendly, but she had never seen it on the menu before. "I find that when you hurt someone's ego, pride and reputation, giving them something as a consolation tends to sooth their anger. Otherwise you have an angry opponent just waiting for you to fall, or until an opportunity arises for them to make you fall." Thomas smiled cheekily, "I also sent over some more breadstix, I hear she has an obsession for them."

"How did you find all of that out?" Rachel had already started to eat her food, the chef had done the dish justice, she might have eaten here on occasion growing up. If there had been a single vegan friendly meal on the menu.

"You'll find that having money, means having influence and that leads to power. I can find out whatever I want given the right price and time." Thomas sighed as he ate a bite of his salad. Considering this was a night out with a friend, he had decided that he wasn't going to eat meat in front of her, even if he had ate meat in front of her in the past and he'll most likely do it again in the future. Just not tonight.

"You seriously believe that?" Rachel's eyes held a challenge in them, it caused Thomas to chuckle.

"I'm not accepting any challenges tonight, Rachel." Rachel shrugged innocently. "My sister returned to this town years ago, but their was a price." His tone took on a disturbed seriousness. "My father demanded that she came here and convinced profitable companies to sell to my father."

"You mean he owns this place." Thomas shook his head at Rachel's look of awe.

"Yes, but that's not how my father does things. My father is more like a shadow, you know it's there, but it tends to hide in plain sight." He picked up his drink and took a mouthful. "So what he does is this; he buys fifty-one percent of any company that he wants, and he becomes a silent partner. The seller continues to run the business as though no transaction had happened."

"Why?" Rachel asked as she paused her eating. "Surely a man like that would want people to know who's in control."

"No. It's like I said it's all about power. If my father came into this town, he would have more power than most of the politicians even have and nobody would suspect a thing."

"You don't sound pleased by the idea of having power over the town." Thomas frowned. He didn't like it, because he didn't have it. His father did. He didn't get along with his father and every tactic he had that would make his father leave him alone, like he had just done to Santana, would also get _him_ into trouble. His father had always been ten steps ahead.

"My father and I don't get along, and that means that my father potentially has power over me. I think you can agree that somebody having power over you is never a good thing."

"I do." Rachel's eyes flickered to the three cheerleaders, her eyes connected with Quinn's and she shivered with fear with the emotion that burned in those. Quinn was _not_ happy.

Other than her agreement, the rest of their meal was filled with a comfortable silence, with a few comments passed back and forth.

-0-

Thomas lowered the stereo as he pulled into Rachel's drive. "How come you walk to school? I mean your father's can obviously afford to buy you a car."

"They think it helps keep me in shape." Rachel shrugged as she opened her door and climbed out. "Want to watch a movie?" Thomas stared at her house. Her father's still weren't home from their business trip, she had mentioned how she didn't like being in the house alone, her paranoia became problematic.

"Sure." Thomas followed Rachel into the house and sighed as a wave of warmth overtook him. "I thought you took dancing lessons?"

"I do." Thomas walked into her living-room and his eyes quickly zoomed in on her dvds, searching for a comedy before she mentioned a musical.

"Well screw it then, I'll start driving you to school, at least until I'm allowed back on my motorcycle." His voice was raised slightly as he realised she had disappeared.

Rachel walked into the living-room with a smile and two drinks. "Thank you, but it's completely unnecessary." Thomas took the drink and shrugged.

"Well it was more of a statement then a question." He explained quickly before crawling on his knees to the dvds, "How do you feel about 'The Proposal'?"

Rachel sighed with a pout. "I was going to suggest Funny Girl." Thomas chuckled as he took out 'The Proposal'.

"I know, but I don't think that I'll like it and I'm in the mood for a comedy."

"How can you say that you don't think you'll like it, if you had only heard of it when I told you?" Thomas shrugged as he put the disc in, Rachel quickly realised she didn't have much of a choice. Even if she had enjoyed the movie Thomas had chosen, she really wanted him to watch Funny Girl, but every so often, you need to make sacrifices. That's what friends do.

"Why don't you go and get changed into something more comfortable and I'll make sure this is set up."

Thomas was her first friend, and she hoped he would be a lasting one too, he seemed like the kind of person most people would want as a friend.

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	7. Angry Mistakes

The week had disappeared in what felt like a blink of an eye. Lily and Cody had once again left for their usual weekend trip to visit one of Lily's friends, Thomas enjoyed the concept of Lily getting her life back. It did mean that he was left at home alone every weekend.

Not so long ago he had found himself in a conversation with Rachel about home, she wanted to know how he was dealing with the move. The truth was that the _only_ reason Thomas had came to this small town was to protect his family, something that he believed was his responsibility, and he had completed that task now. Then she asked why he was still here, 'Every single teenager dreams of leaving, you have the opportunity and yet here you are...', it had made him sit down and think.

He was still here for numberous reasons. The main one was to stay far away from that mansion, to stay away from being secluded and locked away. There was the fact that he had friends now, ones that weren't there for the money. Everything had changed within a flash. Puck had become his friend, or as the mohawked lad liked to say 'bros'. He knew that Puck had his back and that wasn't a friendship that you just walk away from, he was going to hold onto that for as long as possible. Even Rachel, a girl he once considered loud, obnoxious and frightening, had become not only a close friend but a confidant of sorts as well. Then there was Quinn, the blonde haired angel, he still couldn't get her out of his mind. She went against absolutely everything he believed in, she was for all intents and purposes a selfish bully, but he knew that she wasn't always like that. He had seen the real her and it took his breath away. She was interesting, she was amusing and her natural beauty didn't exactly hurt his intentions.

Rachel commented on his empty room and the luggage bag that sat by his walk-in closet. 'Perhaps you should make it offical...', He didn't like the idea of decorating the room, his room, because it made it permanant. Until lately there hadn't been a point in staying permanantly. He definetely enjoyed the idea of staying, it was a significant improvement than staying in that mansion, his paranoia flaring with every single creak he heard.

After the confession, Rachel convinced him to decorate his room; he had brought a bed, 'A gentleman so tall will definetely need a Super King Size. Don't want your feet hanging off now do we!', Thomas was sure it had more to do with the added price than his comfort. Then he went to get a television, of course when he went into the shop to get it, he also ended up paying for the installment fee to have it fitted on his wall. He didn't like spending money, well, he hated spending money on _himself_. Of course Rachel's only real input was that he needed a desk for schoolwork and a rug to make the room look 'warm, comfortable and inviting'. It definitely made everything seem more permanent. On a lighter topic, his first game was happening in a week and he was confident that they were going to win.

Moments after he had finished setting up his newly decorated room the front door knocked, irritatingly loud and repetitive. It was Quinn and for once he wasn't happy to find her at his door.

"What were you doing with that thing?" She let herself in, walking right into his living-room, if it weren't so cold outside Thomas would have kicked her back out. "I thought you wanted to be with _me_?"

Thomas shut the door with a frown and walked into the living-room. "Her name is Rachel, I would appreciate it if you started to use it." Quinn scowled at his words and crossed her arms defiantly. "Also, I went to breadstix with Rachel as a friend, that's what friends do. They eat together. Rachel went clothes shopping with my sister, I thought that it would be nice if I took her out, allow her to try out a new dress." Thomas paused with an annoyed sigh, he tilted of his head slightly. "Quinn, you don't need to ask me that question, you know that I want a chance with you; _but_ I'm not going to restrict myself from having friendly conversation with girls. I'm quickly understanding that my chance with you may never come, I just refuse to sit around and brood about it."

"She will destroy your popularity." Quinn was concerned for Thomas, Rachel was only interested in Finn because of his popularity and she knew that Thomas was too kind and soft to see it, she really didn't want Thomas to be trapped in that thing's grasp. "The new clothes won't change that, she's always going to be a target for bullies."

"No she won't." Quinn almost flinched as he snapped at her. "She was targeted because of you and Santana. That stopped, this morning. I spoke to the team and I explained that Rachel Berry was off-limits, but I know that they're weak-willed. You might be able to have them persuaded to do something stupid, but I'll find out who put them up to it, and if I find out it was you; I'll do to you, what they did to her." Thomas sat on the sofa with a disappointed sigh. "I don't understand you. One moment you're breath taking, and the next you're an insecure bully. This is _my_ point, Quinn. I see you more clearly than anyone else at that school. I know that you're a selfish bitch," He chuckled humourlessly, "but I also know that you make me feel something strange, something different."

At some point Thomas had stopped looking at her in the way Quinn had loved anyway. It was stupid to think that if she kept him at arm length, just within her grasp, that he would continue to look at her like she was the most beautiful, important person in the room. She knew that Thomas wasn't like the rest of the boys, he wasn't going to play games, he wasn't going to brood and wait until she gave him the time of day. This could very much be her last chance. The thought of losing her chance with him was painful, the thought of losing him to someone like Rachel, someone who actually deserved someone like Thomas, was so much worse. "I have to be that way. I have to be in charge or I'll be where Rachel is and I'm not as strong as her. I couldn't handle that."

"I'm not asking you to change, I just need you to leave Rachel alone. You don't have to be her friend, you don't even need to glance in her direction with a smile. I've already made every action to stop everyone from bullying her, if you don't do anything, nobody will question it. All you really have to do is give me a chance." The hope in Thomas' eyes made her smile, she didn't deserve someone like him, but she would be damned if she let him slip through her fingers.

"Fine, I'll leave her alone."

"Thank you." Thomas smiled gratefully, before standing up and pulling her gently into his room. Her eyes widened in surprise. "I'm showing you this because I want you to understand that I'm staying for good. Well, for as long as my unseen future allows."

"For as long as your unseen future allows?" Thomas nodded with a tight smile, as much as he was starting to enjoy the idea of staying in the tiny town, there are many things that could drag him away in moments.

"My father could show up one day and attempt to make me leave, I'm surprised he hasn't tried already. He doesn't like it when people go against his demands." Quinn frowned at his words, to think that he could just disappear in a moment, her chance at happiness could just vanish in a moment.

"I know the feeling." Russell Fabray was a loving father, he truly cared for his children, but after a few drinks her father was gone. He would find the simplest of reasons to scream at anyone in his vicinity, he had destroyed her mother's confidence. 'Your father's a good man, Quinne, it's just the alcohol. It's not his fault.'

"So about that chance?" Quinn looked up at him through her eyelashes and nodded slowly. She couldn't lose her chance. She turned around and walked to the front door.

"I guess I finally have to deal with Finn." She had caught the idiot kissing Rachel, she had ignored it for the sole purpose of needing him to secure her popularity. She wasn't going to ignore it anymore, she just hoped that Thomas didn't end up being like the rest of the boys; nice until they get what they want.

-0-

School started with a punch to the face. Literally. Thomas had just dropped Rachel off and had met Puck outside the locker room for early practice, the coach had demanded they come in every morning over the week for an hour of practice. Finn had been waiting for him with a furious expression, without warning or explanation Finn sucker-punched Thomas. Puck had instantly grabbed onto Thomas expecting him to retaliate, Azimo had grabbed Finn back.

Thomas wiped some blood from the side of his mouth. "Finn." Puck winced as he saw Thomas smile calmly, it was much more worrying when he did that. The kind of people who are calm when they're angry are always the most unpredictable, Puck's grip tightened absently.

"You stole my girlfriend!" Thomas nudged Puck off with a nod, he wasn't going to do anything. Finn was still flailing madly to escape Azimo's grasp, it wasn't helping him the slightest.

"I didn't _steal_ anything." Thomas started with an annoyed scowl. Finn stopped flailing as his ferocity quickly turned to disbelief. "She saw you kissing Rachel, you pillock." Thomas tapped Azimo and gestured for the big lad to let go of Finn, before getting closer to Finn. "I'm going to make something very clear. Rachel deserves more than someone like you and I swear if you hurt her, my retaliation to that punch will be severely worse than you could imagine."

"Everyone on the field in five minutes!"

At the sound of Coach Tanaka's voice, Thomas wiped Finn's shoulder with a smirk. "Oh. I guess I _should_ thank you. I have a feeling that _you're_ mistake, helped me get _my_ chance with Quinn."

When Thomas moved away from Finn everyone seemed to sag as the tension faded, only Puck still looked annoyed. "I thought we were bros, dude?"

Thomas opened the locker with a nod. "We are."

"That's funny because I don't remember you telling me crap about this chance you got with Quinn." Thomas had called Puck, but that was only to tell him that he had warned everyone off from Rachel. Stuff like getting a 'chance' with the head cheerleader was the stuff 'bros' were supposed to talk about.

"To be honest," Thomas sighed as he closed his locker, "I didn't think she was actually going to go through with it." Puck scoffed with disbelief and shrugged. "I need you to do me a favour,"

"What?" Thomas turned to him with a serious expression.

"I need you to convince Finn to leave our "beef" off of the field, I know he's my captain and I'll follow his lead. We all want to win this upcoming game." The McKinley Titans were literally the worst team ever in the state of Lima, Ohio. That was going to change this year, Thomas had worked hard on focusing everyone on the team on their training and it had paid off, Thomas would be damned if Finn let his ego get in his way.

Puck got into his uniform and tapped Thomas on the back, "I'll give it ago."

Training was beyond painful. His ribs must not have been completely healed, every single time someone sacked him to the ground it hurt more and more each time. He didn't exactly slow down either, he had to pass through the pain, he had to win this game.

Luckily, Finn seemed to agree with Thomas and he left his bruised ego off the field. Though that might have something to do with his new brightest idea, he brought Kurt onto the field. Thomas had found the idea amusing, it wasn't that he thought Kurt was incapable, actually, he did. The lad was skinny, slow and fragile. Then he had played that music and everyone was torn from standing still in shock or just dropping to the floor in laughter, but when he hit that ball with perfect accuracy and power, Thomas instantly agreed with Finn. They had to let the boy onto the team, they all wanted to win and Kurt was going to be a different kind of secret weapon. There was no way they could lose now, they would have to be extremely awful to lose the game coming up and they definitely weren't that bad.

When Finn convinced the coach to have the team learn to dance, everyone, including Thomas, was outraged. They were there to play football, not dance, and they shouldn't be forced to do it.

"Coach." Thomas wasn't sure what everyone else was doing, but he was not dancing. He didn't dance, he had never danced in his life and he wasn't starting now. "Can I have a moment?"

"Sure." Coach Tanaka walked into his office with a smile, his tops seemed to be getting smaller, but Thomas wasn't going to make the comment. "I haven't had a chance to say it, but the jacket suits you."

"Thanks." Thomas sat down on a chair with a cautious expression. "So about this dancing, I'm not doing it." Thomas put his hand up as he saw the coach grow frustrated. "I know that you think, that you have blackmail material on me, but you should really give it another thought. I mean think about what might happen if the school board was to find out about a teacher blackmailing a student, the consequences would be quite high. Not to mention the whole marijuana thing." Thomas learned a lot from his father growing up, a lot, mostly that people who try to blackmail you never stop at once. They use the same material over and over to get you to do what they want. So Thomas had someone follow the coach everywhere for incriminating photos, it wasn't hard, the fat idiot had met with the old glee teacher in an open environment and brought drugs. Nobody blackmails a Michaelson and gets away with it.

Coach Tanaka reddened in anger and nodded with a scowl. "I'll tell Mr Shuester that the guys aren't doing it."

"Oh no." Thomas chuckled. "I think you were right to accept the offer. We should be doing anything and everything that could help us win. _I_ just won't be doing it." Thomas wanted nothing more than to watch the rest of the team dancing, anything for a bit of entertainment. Thomas stood up with a grateful nod. "I know that you're annoyed coach, but now we're even, we're on solid ground. Now I'm just a student and you're just the coach. I'm staying on the team, isn't that what you wanted?"

The coach sighed and nodded. "Just make sure you're at practice."

"Of course, Coach. I want to win just as bad as you, I'll be at practice every morning and afternoon." Thomas left quickly, it's better to leave while you're ahead.

-0-

"I haven't been attacked with any cold beverages today," Rachel commented with a broad smile, she was looking significantly better with her new clothes. Her eyes flickered to Thomas' and her voice continued in a much quieter voice. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem." Thomas answered back absently, he took the last bite of his sandwich as lay back on the stage. "Keep making me those honey sandwiches and your protection is my main priority."

She smiled at his words and shook her head. When she looked at him again he looked upset, it was starting to be a regular occurence, she had only started to realise how often the look flickered across his face because she had caught it once by chance. You really didn't notice unless you were looking for it. It was worrying. "I've tasted your cooking, something tells me that it's not the sandwiches that make you help me." He tilted his head to look at her and shrugged.

"It's an incentive." Thomas' mood had been more down than up lately, mostly because he was missing his grandmother, he hadn't seen her in years. The last time had been for a swimming tournament, his mother and grandmother had both been pretending to be hyped as they cheered him on. His grandmother had went home, but he had asked his mother for ice cream, so she took him; the reward of coming in first place. If only he had went home too. He hadn't seen his grandmother since the accident, he hadn't even visited his mother's grave and she had been buried while he lay in a coma. He didn't like the idea of looking at the stands and not finding them there, they never missed his 'boring but intense' competitions. It was one of the reasons he didn't want to join the team.

"So you're taking Quinn out on a date?" Thomas chuckled humourlessly as he shrugged again. "You don't sound too thrilled at the concept."

"I am," He took a long breath, "I am. It's just that it's a really bad time for her to give me that chance, I have practice every day until six or seven at night and I'm already feeling the effect of the hour I had this morning, I can't take her out this week."

Rachel turned with an amused smile. "I'm sure she will be full of understanding. Knowing Coach Sylvester the Cheerios will have to practice harder to show everyone who the true talent is."

Thomas scoffed and shook his head at the idea of Quinn being understanding. "Quinn Fabray. Understanding? I don't think so." Thomas crossed his arms in a disappointed fashion. "Talking about Quinn, you kissed Finn."

Rachel winced at the memory and quickly found something on the floor to be fascinated by. "I did."

"Did you not hear when I said that you deserved more?" Rachel glanced up from the floor with a look of exasperation.

"Did you not hear when I said that there's not exactly anyone lining up?"

Thomas nodded, his voice was filled with warmth and understanding. "I get that, Rachel. I do, but if that's the only reason that you are pursuing him, then you need to stop. It's not fair on him, and it's not fair on you. I know plenty of lads that would date you, _plenty._ Eventually you'll find someone who you will take a real interest in and they will like you back," He paused with a short chuckle, "or you'll follow my lead and just keep making it very clear that you like them until they give you a shot."

Rachel smiled as she stood up. "I _do_ like Finn. He's a great singer, he's sweet and kind and while he's not exactly the smartest, he listens to me when it matters. He makes me feel wanted and I've never felt that before."

Thomas grudgingly got up from his position and nodded at her words. "Alright, I'll respect your decision." Thomas waited until they were half way up the stairs before finishing off his thoughts. "But if he hurts you, I'll kill him."

Rachel found herself smiling internally at his words. Finn wasn't the only person who made her feel wanted, Thomas did too, he made her feel wanted, respected and protected. She wouldn't let him see her smile, she did not condone violence. "That wouldn't be necessary."

Thomas throw his arm around her shoulder carelessly and shrugged. "That's the price for messing with the people I care about." They were walking in the direction of glee club. Rachel was beginning to understand the privileges of being popular as everyone moved out of their way. "I'm pretty sure that you're not suppose to do anything after you eat, especially dancing all over the place." The glee club had ten minutes to eat there lunch before there meeting/lesson commenced.

"We don't normally do the meeting during lunch but now that we have Finn, Quinn, Santana and Brittany on the team, we have to change to schedule occasionally. Finn can't come after school because of football practice and the girls can't come because of Cheerio practice. Everybody's usually hopeful that we'll win the first game of the year but after we lose everything tends to die down significantly." Thomas walked her into glee and sat next to her, he would most likely leave once everyone else got there.

"Well this year is going to be different, I've been pushing the lads harder than they're used too." Thomas rubbed his chest with a pained look. "I must be because this morning was hell, everybody seemed stronger and quicker, my ribs were beyond sore after, they still are." Rachel glanced at him with a worried look.

"Are you sure it isn't because of your accident? I know that you said it wasn't that bad and that you weren't going that fast but you could have hurt something internally. You didn't even go to the doctor, you might have a fractured rib or something worse."

"You're being over-dramatic." Rachel glared at him but didn't reply as everybody began to flood into the room. Thomas nudged her shoulder and winked as he stood up without a word, he didn't miss Finn's glare that dug into the side of his face as he moved to Quinn and took a seat in between her.

"I've got some bad news." Worry quickly washed over her face and Thomas felt stupid for starting with that. "It's nothing _too_ bad, I just can't take you out this week."

"You had me worried for a moment." Thomas was surprised at her open admittance, he knew she wasn't keen on even admitting she had any feelings at all, at least not in front of any one at school. "Start again with hello and explain yourself, _please._ "

Quinn smiled as she saw amusement stir in his eyes, she was still worried though. He wasn't going to back out now that he had a chance was he? "Hello, Quinne." He started with a teasing tone. "As for the explanation; you know we have a game coming up and it's going to include some pretty hardcore training. I'm going to be leaving school late everyday thoughout the entire week, I don't want to bring you on our first date when I'm tired and grouchy." She wasn't sure when it happened but she was starting to like it when he called her that, maybe it had something to do with her parents, they only called her that when they were trying to show her that they cared.

Her father used to call her Quinne when she was younger; she was petrified of the dark as a little girl, her mother used to tuck her into bed and kiss her on the head but she always shut the door. In the end she would sneak out of her room holding onto her teddy, she would tiptoe into her father's study and he would smile when he saw her, he would help her onto his lap and within moments she would fall asleep. He never touched alcohol then, 'it's the devil's drink, Quinne', something obviously changed. Her smile intensified at his words. "First date," She looked up at his in faux-confusion. "We've already had our first date, remember the steaks."

"That wasn't a date." Thomas countered with a look of disbelief. That was when he was considering just sleeping with her and ditching.

"That's a shame." Quinn commented with her smile coming back into play. "It would have been the most memorable one I would have been on. It was the first time I ever got onto a motorcycle and went for a ride on one, it was the first time I ever trespassed into a restaurant after breaking in and it was the first time I ever ate at a restaurant without paying. It was quite the first impression you made."

"That's kind of my thing." Thomas joked with a soft chuckle, a broad smile across his handsome face. "I would ask if you wanted to just watch a movie at my house as our second date, but you know how I feel about girls walking home alone at night."

Quinn turned from him with a sly smile. "I have a car, I just like walking. Keeps me in shape." Her worry was still there and she wasn't planning on giving him an out. "Any more excuses?"

Thomas held his hands up teasingly, "Hey, I'm one of the good guys." He paused as he saw Mr Shue walk in, he continued in a serious manner. "Would you like to join me for a movie tonight at eight?"

"I'd love too." She gave Thomas a kiss on the cheek before he left, he smiled before attempting to leave.

Mr Shue grabbed him before he left. "I was hoping that you might start playing the piano for us; Brad quit."

Thomas took a glance at his hopeful expression before taking a look at everyone in the room, what was one more responsibility? "Sure."

-0-

Football practice went long, from three until seven, it was already quite dark before they finished. Thomas felt dead. He felt completely numb. If someone was to tell him that football wasn't that hard, he would punch them in the throat without hesitation. He was starting to wonder if Rachel was right, that maybe he had fractured a rib, or even broke one, even if he had, it didn't change the fact his team needed him. He definitely wasn't going to hospital and he couldn't afford to lay back and take it easy this week.

"Are you alright, dude?" Puck had seen the force the metal bat had used as it smashed into Thomas' side, at the time Thomas was filled with adrenaline, otherwise he most likely would have dropped to the floor in pain. Thomas had started to get sacked to the floor a considerably larger amount of times during practice, it was bypassed by the coach because he was still playing amazingly but Puck still felt worried when Thomas struggled to get up near the end of practice. "You shouldn't be practising so hard out there after that blow to the chest."

"I'm fine." Thomas was not fine. He was more than ready to fall onto his bed after taking two pain relief and a scorching hot shower. To think that he had a whole week of this, at least it wasn't English Rugby, there was no "armour" in that. "I just need some sleep," With perfect timing he yawned. "I'm worn out."

"Did you see a doctor?" Thomas sighed as they walked onto the parking lot. He pulled out his keys and shrugged with immense effort.

"For what? The best they can do is give me some pain relief, but they'll only give me the same crap that I can just buy. It's not going to help."

"I can hook you up with a few joints." Thomas chuckled before coughing, "What?" Puck was visibly smirking at Thomas' disbelieving look.

"Of course that's your answer. Remind me not to eat anything you bake." Thomas finally reached his car and opened the door, "My sister would murder me for getting high and then going into her house, and then she would murder you for supplying."

"I guess you're screwed then."

"I'll live. I'll see you tomorrow, bud." The thought of returning for another day like that was daunting.

The drive home went by pretty fast and soon Thomas was sitting on the sofa with his sister, he was beyond grateful that his sister had his dinner already cooked. "Did I ever tell you that you're my favourite sister?" Lily laughed softly as she put the television onto the comedy channel, Thomas' favourite.

"I'm your _only_ sister." Thomas shrugged with a smile as he ate his food. "By the looks of it practice was pretty rough today," Thomas looked away and quickly threw his attention at the television. "I remember telling you to explain to your coach that you needed to be excused."

"I can't afford to be excused, I need to practice just like everyone else, this game is the most important game of the year. If we lose this game, we lose our morale and then everything goes down from there." Thomas was planning on winning every game, no matter the cost, no matter how much pain he had to go through.

"Fine, but I don't want you getting into any fights or doing anything stupid." Thomas rolled his eyes, of course she would think he would be the one to get into a fight. "I'm serious, if I think it's getting too bad, I'll call your coach myself."

"Sure, whatever." Something told him that Coach Tanaka wouldn't listen to his sister, that man wanted to win more than everyone on the team put together. "I need some help with planning a date."

Lily smiled at him with an excited expression. "Quinn, Rachel or both?" Thomas glanced at her with a disbelieving look and shook his head. "Please. I've seen what the girls are like nowadays. So which is it?"

"Quinn." Lily looked almost disappointed with his answer and it caused Thomas to frown. "What's your problem with Quinn?

"It's not Quinn that I have a problem with." Lily reassured quickly, "It's her father, Russell. You've met the man, surely you noticed something _off_ about him." Lily had spent enough time with her husband to see the signs of an abusive man, she wasn't sure what kind of abuse was his preference, but she recognized the signs instantly when she had met him for the first time. The fact that he had been one of Alexander's "work" friends didn't help her opinion of the man. The man had been drunk when she spoke to him, and he had made a pass at her.

"Sure. I noticed something off about him, but I try not to judge based on my first instincts, no matter how good they usually are. Besides, I'm going to be dating Quinn, not her father."

"Right." She smiled tightly with a calm nod. "Of course." The door bell rang and as Thomas looked at the time he remembered when Quinn had agreed to come over to watch a movie. "Let me guess, Quinn?"

"Yeah, I kind of forgot. We're just going to chill in my room and watch a movie." He didn't technically have to explain himself to his sister, but he wanted to make it clear that he wasn't doing anything _else_. He stood up with a slight groan, Lily glared at him before grabbing the plates.

"I'm going to go and do the plates." Thomas moved to the door with great effort and opened it with a smile.

Quinn had changed out of her cheerleader outfit into a pale yellow dress and a white cardigan. "Hey, come in." He brought them into his room silently before picking up some shorts and a top. "I'm just going to change, why don't you pick a movie?"

"Sure." Quinn didn't hesitate to make herself at home. By the time Thomas had changed and returned the movie was already on and Quinn was laying on the bed. She had chose a romantic comedy. "How was practice?"

Thomas lay back on the bed awkwardly, he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to sit close to her or keep a respectable distance, he had never been in a position like this before. "It was pretty rough, it feels more like the coach wants me dead than trained."

"I've seen you at practice with the rest of the guys, it's rare to see someone look so excited and passionate about being sacked to the ground." Thomas chuckled lightly at Quinn's teasing tone.

"It's just been awhile since I've been involved in something. I've missed it." Quinn smiled at him.

"I'm glad that they have you on the team, everyone seems more focused, I think the chances of winning have definetely increased."

Thomas nodded with a tired expression, he yawned slightly. "It's not just me, like you said everyone is more focused, everyone wants to win."

Quinn would've sat there and done nothing but talk to him if she could, but he seemed tired and she didn't want to keep him awake long, especially with practice in the morning. "We can skip the movie if you want, you're already yawning, I don't want you tired tomorrow."

"People yawn because they don't have the optimised amount of oxygen in their systems." He paused as he realised how nerdy he sounded. "I'm alright, Quinn. We can watch the movie."

At some point throughout the movie Thomas' arm had found it's way around Quinn, who had found her head on his chest. He had moved her slightly, explained that he had sore ribs since practice and continued watching the movie. It was nice and relaxing. Neither one of them wanted to leave but eventually the movie came to an end and Thomas had nearly fell asleep.

"I really don't want to move." Quinn sighed with a relaxed voice. "I am unbelievable comfortable right now."

Thomas put his hand in her hair, "I imagine your father wouldn't accept that as an excuse of returning home late." It was meant as a joke but it had Quinn sitting up, he already missed the warm pressure on his chest. "I'll walk you to your car." He took her by her hand and walked her out silently. She paused at her car and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"I enjoyed tonight." Thomas nodded with another yawn. "Can we do it again tomorrow?" Thomas was more than happy with the idea. It gave him something to look forward to throughout the day. It was surprisingly easy to be around her. They had spent most of the night in silence, but he had felt so comfortable with her. After the initial awkwardness, there was no need to force conversation or fill in the silence. There was no pressure, the were both just relaxed.

"Definitely." They were both silent for a moment. Quinn's eyes flickered to Thomas' lips, she wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but she didn't want to make it awkward. Then his lips connected with hers, it was short, gentle and sweet. It was like nothing she had expected. The smile on his face after was contagious. "Same time?"

Quinn sighed as she opened the car door. "Definitely."

Later on in the night when Thomas finally managed to climb into the shower, he sighed as the scorching water ran through his hair onto him. He prodded the large bruise that seem to grow even worse everyday, just the slight prod made him nearly cry out in pain, he was surprised that he could still stand. If his nan were here she would slap him over the head before dragging him to hospital, nobody ever went against that small, surprisingly powerful old woman. It wasn't always out of respect either.

He couldn't go to the hospital, the last time he had been there was after the accident and he couldn't afford to be kept in. He wasn't going to let his team down, they needed him to be at every practice, they needed his help to win. He had a pretty good pain threshold, he could withstand his fair share of pain, whether his actual psychical form could withstand being tackled continuously for an entire week was a different case entirely, he was barely able to dry himself off without screaming. Finally being able to lie down in bed after taking two pain relief was like heaven, hopefully he could fall asleep without much hassle, turning over repeatedly to get comfortable did not sound pleasant.

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 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	8. Defying Doctors

**A/N - Short Chapter, I Hope You Enjoy.**

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Thomas felt like he was barely moving, he felt like he was barely breathing, he couldn't hear anything. His vision was starting to go black. He could feel his feet beginning to argue with his demands and suddenly he was picked up off his feet and his back crashed into the ground. He felt a moment of absolute torture before his body finally failed him. He blacked out.

Everyone ran to him in panic and worry. Karofsky stood still in shock, guilt written across his face. Nobody could wake him up.

"Dude." Puck tapped his arm gently, careful not to move his body. "Come on, Tom." Thomas' eyes opened slightly and Puck could tell from experience that the motionless boy was high. Most likely to help him control the pain, but Puck had no idea what Thomas had taken.

Thomas started coughing roughly, it felt like a knife was gutting him repeatedly. He felt like he couldn't catch his breath. When he finally managed to sit up, he could see the entire team looking at him with concerned looks. When they finally let a breath of relief out, it seemed to echo around the field. "I'm fine."

Thomas struggled to get his helmet off as he tried to breath properly. "Can I have some room to breath?" Everyone nodded before backing off quickly, they needed him to be fine. He was their way to win the game. "It's going to take more than one fat-ass to keep me down." Karofsky knew he was joking, but he scoffed anyway, he was beyond glad he hadn't hurt Thomas. Puck helped Thomas get back to his feet with immense difficulty, he weighed more than he looked.

The Coach drove up to them with a glare, "I want you at the nurse's office right now." The obese man climbed out of the golf cart before walking up to them.

"I'm alright, Coach. I was just winded for a moment, let's do another run." Tanaka walked up to him and grabbed his top, pulling him closer. Thomas tried not to wince.

Before Tanaka managed to open his mouth, he caught a look at Thomas' eyes. He lowered his voice significantly, "Are you high?" The disbelief was audible in his voice. Thomas looked away with a slight shake of his head. "You're done for the evening. Go home."

"Coach." Thomas scoffed with annoyance. "Are you serious?"

"Well you can't go to the damn nurse." Tanaka hissed at him furiously, "If you did that, you would be suspended and I can't lose my best player." Thomas stood firm with a look of defiance, Tanaka raised his pitch. "I will not allow anyone to be injured before this game. If you struggle to get up after being tackled, you're done for the night, understood?" Everyone nodded quickly before running back to their given tasks. Tanaka glanced at Thomas and sighed. "Why is it that the one guy on my team, who actually has a high GPA, is the stupidest one? Go home, rest up, be back tomorrow for the game."

"Yes, sir." Thomas commented before walking away. Puck shrugged in apology before running back to join the rest of the team. Coach Tanaka climbed back into his cart and drove off again. He had managed, barely, to get through the week. This was their last practice before the game and Thomas knew that his body was being pushed to the limit. He was going to see a doctor, he did not like what happened to his body. It was like he was weightless, but a ton of bricks was holding him down anyway.

He was so out of it that he walked past the cheerleaders without looking for Quinn, who _had_ spotted him and was already running in his direction. She had watched him get tackled by Karofsky, her heart had raced when he didn't move. She was filled with relief as she watched him get onto his feet. If she were dating anyone else, she would've had Karofsky slushied, but she knew it would only anger Thomas.

Everything had been so good with him over the week, she had spent most evenings at his house. The first night had been completely different to the rest, they had still watched movies, but they made more comments on it. There was also the fact that they no longer had an awkward moment, Quinn just instantly snuggled up into Thomas side. They had made out once or twice, but it hadn't moved past first base and they were both okay with that.

When she finally reached him, she grabbed his hand. He turned with a surprised look before smiling. "Hey." It was strange, she wasn't sure whether he was happy to see her or whether he was in significant pain, most likely both with him.

"Hey." She leaned up slightly to give him a chaste kiss, she noticed him wince visibly as she wrapped her arm around his side. "Sorry." She knew that he had hurt his ribs, he had told her the truth about how it happened, leaving out why he had gotten into the fight with Alexander and skipping to getting hit with the bat. Though she was on strict rules not to let Rachel know. The will power it took not to let the diva know was insane.

He scratched the back of his neck with a shrug. "You finishing up practice?" He didn't want to see the doctor on his own, he really didn't like them. Spending time with any doctor made him think of hospitals, which in-turn reminded him of his mother.

"I told Santana to make them do some laps first." Thomas chuckled weakly, Quinn loved control, making those poor girls run around was just one way to exercise it. He preferred that over slushy attacks. "I'm already done. I love it when Coach can't be bothered to insult and mock us." She glanced up to Thomas with a smile, "Why?"

"I'm going to see a doctor." Quinn's smile dropped, she had thought he was going to ask her to come back to his house again, she hadn't expected him to say that. Even if she couldn't stay as long as usual. "I lied when I said that I was fine. I'm in so much pain that I took some of my sister's old morphine."

"You're being very honest." Quinn commented before walking into the school with him, other than his eyes, he didn't look drugged up. At least she knew what to do when she needed a question answered honestly.

Thomas shrugged with a carefree expression. "I'm pretty high right now." If she didn't think that he was an idiot for not going to a doctor sooner, she might have commented on how adorable he looked in his current state.

She hummed her agreement. "Go and have a shower. I'll drive you to the doctors."

-0-

Lily had drove Thomas and Rachel to school, Thomas had made up some lame excuse about his car not working, Lily hadn't questioned it. Meaning that Thomas was now in Quinn's car on their way to see a doctor. Doctor Samuels to be exact, the family doctor, Thomas didn't sound to pleased when he had told her.

"What are you going to tell the doctor about the morphine?" Thomas shrugged silently before turning awkwardly to face her.

"I won't get told off, Quinne. He'll tell me not to do it again and I'll tell him I won't. Topic closed." Quinn stayed silent for the rest of the trip there. Surprisingly, the second they walked into the reception the doctor was ready to see them. "I don't like waiting, Quinne. You know that."

They walked into the doctor's spacious office and took a seat. "Well then, Mr Michaelson, what seems to be the problem?" Quinn looked at the man, a mixture of grey and black hair, few wrinkles and sleek glasses over his brown eyes. His smile looked too real, it had to be fake, who could possibly enjoy spending a day speaking to whiny, sick people.

Thomas raised his shirt, Quinn's eyes were glued to his chest. The bruising had turned to a mixture of yellow, red and blue. Even if that wasn't enough to make her wince, the scars that were scattered all over him were sickening. She had heard about them, but she thought everyone was being dramatic. She wasn't even sure if wanted to know what happened to him.

"I see." The doctor stood up and moved to a large, bed like seat. "If you can just lie down on here, please." Thomas stood up and moved over. He struggled slightly, but he managed to get onto it. "Can you take your shirt off?"

Thomas unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it to the side. "Trust me, this is significantly faster." The doctor nodded before putting his hands onto Thomas' chest. He searched for something, completely ignoring Thomas' pained look as he started grinding his teeth.

The doctor stood back, "You have three broken ribs, they weren't recent either. I imagine the pain is excruciating." The middle-aged man stood back with a questioning look. "You should be screaming in agony right now, I'm going to need to know what you've taken."

Thomas nodded. "I've been taking Tramadol over the past few days, but after football practice yesterday it got worse. I found some of my sister's morphine, I filled a syringe with it and I drank it."

"What was the concentration?"

"Not a clue. All I know is that the pain stopped and I was much happier." The doctor scoffed as he moved back to his desk. "So what's the diagnosis, doc? Are you going to give me some drugs? I've got a pretty important game tomorrow."

"I'm going to prescribe you morphine, you'll read the label and take the designated amount." The doctor span on his chest towards Thomas. "You're just like your father." Quinn's ears listened much closer at the doctor's words. Thomas never spoke about his parents, she had tried to bring it up once. He shrugged and stayed silent. "You're in immense pain and you want to know when you can get back on your feet."

"I'm nothing like my father. He's a coward who walks away when he's needed." Thomas snapped before remembering Quinn. He calmed himself down and smiled. "Well?" The doctor gave him a piece of paper.

"You shouldn't go to that game tomorrow," He paused before sighing. "but I know better than to think that my words will stop you. So let me explain to you in the words of science; If that rib snaps any more, it could tear your lung, release air and then flood it with blood. You will then drown to death."

"Well then, I better not get tackled." Thomas joked, he felt Quinn's hand slid into his. "I'll let myself out." Thomas stood up and pulled Quinn to the door, he opened it and took one more look back. "Oh and James, I think it might be best if you don't call my father about this. He's been having a bit of a paddy lately."

-0-

The ride hope was tediously long and it was even worse with the awkward silence. Quinn couldn't help but worry, they hadn't been dating for longer than a week, but he already had a place in her heart. It wasn't love, not yet anyway, but she cared about him. Perhaps more than anyone else in her life. She was really trying to be someone who deserved Thomas, but it was hard. She had been a bully for awhile, it was a fact, but it also meant that she hadn't been bullied. There was a time when she was Rachel Berry. It wasn't just her though, there were things about Thomas that were just off-limits. His family and his past were the main ones. Being able to lie down after school, snuggle into his side as they watched a movie was worth it though. The comfort that it provided was unexplainable.

They were both sitting in the tiny car outside of the house. Both had something they needed to say, Thomas was the one to finally break the silence. "You've got to love those awkward silences." An angelic like giggle left Quinn's mouth as she smiled. "I've been missing that smile all day." Her smile broadened as he dramatically moved his arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry that you can't play in the game, I know you really wanted to." Quinn was genuinely sorry, if it were Finn she wouldn't care. Finn had never put so much effort into the team, he had only wanted to win, he always seemed to think that it would just happen. "I suppose you won't be at the game tomorrow?

"Are you joking?" Quinn turned to him in confusion as he chuckled roughly, "I have a beautiful girlfriend, who is the head-cheerleader that wears these glorious skirts, I'm going to be at that game." Quinn giggled again with a shake of her head.

"Perv." Thomas shrugged with smile.

"The only thing that has changed is that instead of you being there to watch and support me, I'll be watching and supporting you." Quinn looked at him and sighed. She didn't deserve him. Any other guy would be brooding, furious with their position but Thomas just accepted it. Even if it did take him awhile to finally see a damn doctor. She still didn't know what he hated about them.

"I really like you." Thomas smiled at her and nudged her again.

"I am so glad, Quinne. It might have been awkward otherwise." He took her hand and caressed it with his thumb. Quinn faux-glared at him. "You wanna come in? Grab something for dinner and watch a movie?"

"You know how much I want to," Thomas frowned at her tone, he already knew her answer. It was strange, as a boy he mocked his sister for wanting to spend every single moment with her boyfriends, but he completely understood it now. "but my parents went out tonight and they asked me to be home before they are." They hadn't asked her, but she knew her father would throw a fit if she returned home late, not that it would stop him from throwing shouting about everything else. He always found a reason to drink on their "weekly dates".

"Alright." Thomas sighed, "Give me a kiss and I'll go." Quinn leaned over and kissed him, as she leaned back Thomas put his hand in her hair and pulled her back gently. She smiled broadly before kissing him again.

"Come on, I really need to go home." She kissed him after each kiss, she pulled back and smiled at his dazed look. "Come on."

Thomas pouted in annoyance. "Okay, okay. Tell your mom I said hello."

"Not a chance, then she'll ask me to bring you to dinner again." She hadn't even told her mother that she had finished her relationship with Finn, never mind that she was now dating a boy who rode a motorcycle. Her mother would think she was starting to go through her "rebellion" stage.

Thomas got out of the car, "I'll see you tomorrow."

-0-

If there was anything Thomas was looking forward to again, it was seeing Cody after school. He was always asleep by the time Thomas had finished practice. The second Thomas walked into the house, the most intense smell hit his nose. Lily was cooking. Thomas walked into the kitchen and sat on one of the island stools. "I am fucked." Lily shook her head at his language, their grandmother would smack him over the head for such vile language. "So, I stopped by James Samuels office on the way home."

Lily paused her wooden spoon down for a moment, giving Thomas more of her attention. "How is Uncle James?" Thomas glared at her. It was different for her, she had known the man throughout her childhood, but Thomas was too young to remember the man. "Yeah, yeah. He's not my uncle. What did he say?"

"He said that I have a few broken ribs." Lily stared at him with a mixture of shock and anger. "Don't look at me like that. You should have seen me after the accident, I was a real mess then."

"That's not the point." Lily snapped with a rage filled glare. "Go to bed, I'll bring your dinner up." Lily was his big sister, she was supposed to look after him, make decisions that he might not like, but she had failed at that once more. Some big sister she was.

"Cool." Thomas smiled before tapping her arm, she was expecting some heartfelt comment or gesture. "Stir that sauce before it burns."

Thomas was thankful and full of relief that the only available room in the house was downstairs. Just one glance at the stairs was painful, it was like his ribs were grinding together in warning. Instead all he had to do was walk through the hall straight into his room. The moment he his back hit his bed he felt like he was in heaven. It was like he had a moment of pure bliss, it didn't last.

He was glad that he had taken a shower at school, the thought of standing in the shower now was tiring. The drugs were starting to wear off, Thomas remembered the bag in his hand. He took it out and read the label; Take once every five plus hours when needed, ten millilitres. He pulled out the syring and filled it to the ten ml mark. All he needed was enough to let him get some rest.

In what felt like moments after, Lily came into the room with a plate of food. "Leave the plate on your bedside table and I'll grab it in fifteen minutes." Twenty-two minutes and thirty-three seconds later and Thomas was completely passed out.

-0-

By the time Thomas woke up, Lily was already gone for her usual weekend trips. Thomas was completely bummed out about having to bench himself for the game. Ever since he had joined the team he had been proving himself. They mocked him repeatedly, he had to be faster, stronger and smarter than their expectations and he had done it. He had done it knowing that by the time this game came around, they could win as a team.

That wasn't the only reason he was bummed out. He was worried about the game. He knew that they considered him as their way of winning the game, they all thought he would pick up their slack. They hadn't even realised how much they had all improved, he was worried that they would all be defeatists. Just give up the moment he benched himself.

He went to school, he ate lunch with Rachel while she animatedly commented on glee and how her father's had returned from their business trip, he even walked Quinn to her classes and demanded a kiss before she left and he had messed around jokingly with Puck. His school life was grand, he had a "bro", he had a close friend and confidant and he had an angelic like girlfriend, if you took the bullying out of the picture anyway. His mind still hadn't gotten off the game.

His fears were found reasonable as he sat there watching the game. They were losing _badly._ Their confidence was completely shot, he knew that they considered him their winning piece, but he had thought they would still try. Mike was slow, his usual energetic personality was gone, he even seemed tired. Puck was growing more frustrated by the moments and they were using it against him. In fact they were all growing quickly frustrated and it only worsened their game play.

Thomas got off the bench and walked up to Tanaka, he was still high, but the Coach knew it was prescribed medication. "Coach, call a time-out." Tanaka glared at him before shrugging.

"The hell can we lose now?" He called the time-out and everyone ran over to them. "You are all pathetic."

"Why don't you let me do the pep talk, Coach?" Tanaka scoffed as he glared at each member of the team. "Right lads. You are all pathetic." The whole team chuckled quietly with Thomas. "I'm serious. Mike, where's the energy?" Mike shrugged with a tired expression. "Come on, man. We all know that you like to dance, and if you don't start using them feet as quickly and smoothly as you normally do, you'll be dancing with Kurt. All of you will." Thomas sighed before looking at them. "We're good. All of us have improved massively over the past few weeks, but if you can't do it without me, then you won't. Coach, put me on the field."

Tanaka glared at Thomas before shrugging. "I can't do that,"

"Coach." Thomas snapped forcefully. "Unbench me."

"Puckerman, you're going to shield Thomas. Don't let him get hit too much." Everybody inhaled excitedly.

"Lets humiliate these tossers."

Everyone seemed reinvigorated with Thomas back on the field. Mike's speed increased immensely, he span around anyone that managed to get near him and got a touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. were tying. Everybody had felt the pressure rise, everyone was nervous.

Finn called out the moment he had the ball, he moved back as he waited for the perfect moment, he threw it to Mike. Mike caught it but the opposition were waiting. All of them but one where blocked by Puck and Karofsky, but one got through. Thomas should have moved back, but out of instinct he dived into Mike's way.

Everyone went silent. It was like lightning had cracked in the sky. Thomas dropped to the ground. For what seemed like forever nobody said or did anything. Thomas didn't move.

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	9. Meet Daddy

Thomas lay there motionless. Unable to breath. Fear flowing freely. There was no pain. He was being pulled out of a car, flames breezed towards the car. Lights flashed in the distance. They were to far out. The car set on fire. Screams rang in his ears. His mother was still in the car. He tried to get up, he tried to help. He couldn't move. She turned to him with a face full of agony. The car blew up.

"Collapsed Lung... Pneumothorax..." He was being pushed on something. Lights burned his eyes. He tried to move but someone pushed him back down. "Family notified?" The pain shot through his body again. He felt like he was drowning. "O.R... Surgery..." The voices were barely audible, he could barely understand them. He was picked up and moved onto something else. When he saw the doctor he panicked, he tried to get away. A pinch burned his arm and soon he lost his vision. He was asleep. Doctor Samuels wasn't trying to scare Thomas. He was being completely honest, playing in that game was dangerous.

Lily had been called immediately, she had left with Cody the moment the words came through the phone. Driving in her state of mind was a dangerous idea, panic, worry and anger screaming throughout her. She had considered hiring a driver, but her father had shown up. He had told her to follow him in his trademark emotionless tone to his helicopter. If it were for any other reason, she might have loved the look of pure awe on Cody's face as they hover above the ground. The sad part about all of this was that Cody didn't really know who the older man was, he had met him twice in his whole life. He hadn't spent much time with the man either time.

The helicopter landed right next to the hospital, her father didn't seem to care about any problems it would cause. That was always her father; do what ever he wanted, whenever he wanted. It helped that he had "invested" in the hospital, it was reasons like this that he tried to own every piece on the board. He didn't like not having the control, he didn't like anything that was unpredictable. Her father didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to get into the hospital. She couldn't decide which reason was more possible; either he was worried that something fatal had happened to Thomas or he knew there was nothing that he could do... or he just didn't care.

Her father walked up to a nurse and pulled her by the arm. When she gave him her attention he released his arm and took a step back. "Thomas Michaelson was brought in earlier this evening, I want to see him."

The nurse smiled politely before moving behind the reception desk. "And you are?" Lily's father straightened his back and glared at the woman.

"Richard Michaelson," The nurses face lit up with recognition. "I see you know who I am. Good. Now bring me to my son." The nurse nodded quickly before gesturing for them to follow him. Lily knew that her father only "invested" in companies for his own gain, but he helped a lot of people at the same time. What was a little respect for that? All he asked was that no questions were asked. When people receive the kind of money, that he uses to pay people off with, not many people _do_ ask questions.

They stopped outside of the room. "Check on your brother, I'll look after the boy." Lily looked at her father with a frown. The two of them hadn't talked in nearly four years, not since Thomas went into a coma. Lily picked Cody up and walked towards some chairs outside of the room.

"No. I'll check on him after you." Richard glared at her before sighing with a shake of his head. He didn't even make another comment before walking into the room. A doctor was standing in front of the bed with a serious expression.

"Excuse me." Thomas was sitting up in the bed with a mask covering his mouth and nose. Richard could have sworn that he heard a groan, he wouldn't expect anything less from his son.

The doctor turned and looked at Richard's offered hand before shaking it. "I suppose you're the father."

"I am." Richard didn't move from his place by the door. "Is my son going to be fine?"

The doctor glanced at the newly present man. He was dressed in an expensive looking suit, short black hair and stone cold blue eyes. His tall, slim frame and wrinkled eyes expressed his age. His tone hadn't held any concern or worry, it was more like he was talking about business. "Your son sustained multiple broken ribs after a tackle, which then tore his lung. We had to bring him into surgery, remove the air from between the chest walls and then close the lung."

"I know all of this." Richard interrupted calmly. "My question was; is he going to be fine? If I had wanted to know why he was here I would have asked." The doctor turned and smiled tightly towards Thomas. The boy had been quiet since he had woke up, slightly scared and anxious about his position, but from what interections he had witnessed, the boy was nothing like his father.

"He'll be fine, he'll need some oxygen treatment but other than that he should be alright," The doctor paused before walking towards the door. "Your son is a very lucky man."

Richard moved around the bed and took a seat next to Thomas. "This is why I wanted you at home. So you didn't do something _stupid_ and _inconsiderate_. That doctor was correct in saying that you are lucky. If your lung had been torn any more than it was, you might be dead." Thomas moved to take the mask off but Richard held his arm in place. "You _will_ listen to me. You made a decision that endangered your own life, you made a decision that nearly cost your coach his whole career. You failed yourself, your coach and your team tonight."

Richard put Thomas' arm back on the bed and tapped it softly. "But like I said, your doctor was correct, _you're a_ very lucky boy. Nothing about that game will be questioned, nobody will take blame for your actions." Thomas glanced at him with a dazed questioning look. "I made some calls." That was the only explanation that Richard was going to give. "It definitely helped that you only told your Coach about your ribs, it would have been much more difficult if _every_ official had known about that."

Thomas raised to take his mask off again. He wasn't happy that his father had helped him, not the slightest bit. With his father there was always a price, no matter who you were to him. "What's the price," He put the mask back of his face and breathed again. "old man?"

Richard grinned and tapped his son on the arm again. "You're off the team, no more stupid little games." Richard's smile dropped as he stood up. "Oh and I've just brought a house in this wretched town, every so often I'm going to come back and we're going to have dinner together." The older man was already halfway down the corridor before Thomas could even think about removing his oxygen mask.

Thomas' mind was completely blank, high on the drugs that they had filled him with. He didn't even realise a moment had passed before Lily came into the room, he wondered who was looking after Cody. She sat on a chair by his side and took his hand. For a brief moment, from a brief glance, he thought she was his mother. It was a painful shot of realisation.

"Hey." Her voice was so soft and warm, she sounded just like their mother, he had failed Lily just like he had failed his mother. He did nothing while his mother burnt, just as he did nothing while Lily was beaten. "I would ask how you are doing but I already know." Thomas squeezed her hand, he couldn't wait to get the damn mask off. "The doctor said that you can go home tonight, you'll need to have an oxygen tank but you should be fine with some rest."

They sat there for what felt like an eternity. Thomas' eyes flew opened at the sound of a sob. Lily had tears on her cheeks, he moved to wipe them off. He had caused this, he _always_ screwed up in the end. "I thought that I was going to lose my brother tonight. Once again I wasn't here for you. Once again I failed to look after my little brother." Thomas pulled his mask off, not caring for his struggle to breath, he wouldn't let her think that.

"I told you I wouldn't play, it's my fault." Lily forced the mask onto his face gently. When she was sure that he wasn't going to take it off again, she sat back and relaxed.

"I'm your big sister, tomtom. I'm your _big_ sister. I'm supposed to look after you and I didn't. I left you after mom died, and I left you again this weekend. I knew, in my gut, that you would play. I knew it." She wiped at her eyes angrily, "But I wanted to see my friend, so I left. That's not going to happen any more. From now on I'm going to look after you, I'm going to ground you, I'm going to make you do your homework, I'm going to make sure that you do everything that a teenager is supposed to do. I'm going to make sure that you're grounded, level-headed. I've spoken to Doctor Samuels since you seen to him. I've talked to him about your meds and you _will be_ taking them."

Thomas stared up at her and smiled from behind his mask. He nodded in understanding before holding her hand again, he took his mask of with his spare hand. "I know I haven't said it in awhile," He took a breath from the mask, "but I do love you, Lily." He put the mask on again, he had to say what was on his mind. "When I saw what Alexander had done, I knew I had failed you." For the first time in four years tears wormed their way down Thomas' cheeks, his point seemed less dramatic as he had to take another breath from his mask. "Like I failed mom."

"You must be really high right now." Thomas chuckled painfully, Lily smiled at the sight. It had been awhile since she had seen him smile, an honest, innocently goofy smile. It was like they were kids again. She was ten years older than him. One of her fondest memories was of their childhood; she used to climb into his crib while he cried in the middle of the night, and she would cuddle up against him so cautiously, scared that she might hurt him and then, in seconds, they would fall asleep. They were both so innocent then, so naive and precious. There was a knock on the door and they both turned their heads. Half of the football team were standing in the corridor, Puck stood firmly in front.

"Look at that. _Your_ team have came to check on you, I'm just hoping you won that bloody game."

Thomas frowned before moving his mask off for a moment. "Not my team." He took a weak, raspy breath. "I've got to quit." Lily knew that her father had a price, he always had a price, but for once she wasn't so angry about it. It was doing Thomas more bad than good playing in those games. He just seemed to ignore pain lately. The door swung open as the whole team pushed their way in awkwardly.

"If the nurse sees you all in here, she might kick your asses."

Puck shrugged in a nonchalant way, Thomas was his bro and every single guy on the team knew that Thomas had made the decision to step in Mike's way for them. For them to win. None of them were going to let that drop. Thomas looked _bad,_ that was the nicest way of putting it. "What's up, dude?"

Thomas took the mask off for a moment, "Oh, you know," He breathed into the mask once more, it was starting to get on his last nerve. "just chilling."

They guy's seemed serious, Puck, Karofsky, Azimo, Mike, Matt, Kurt and even Finn stood in front of him. "You had us worried." It was Finn who had said it, it surprised Thomas, Finn had been nothing but pissed with him. For a half-valid reason. "We thought you were done." Finn had a friend once, someone who _wasn't_ as lucky as Thomas.

Karofsky coughed awkwardly, "So can we tell him yet? That is why we came." Finn shrugged with a smile, as did Mike and Puck. "We won the game. You took the blow for Mike and he got the touchdown." He paused with a ridiculous smile. "Thank god we didn't have to do that ridiculous dance. Though we did have to stop Puck from going berserk on the guy who tackled you."

Puck had went after the lad who tackled Thomas, the idiot had gotten up with a cocky smile. That's just bad sportsmanship. "If it helps I fucked the guy's mom."

Thomas took his mask off, "My sister is sitting right there, show a little respect." Lily smiled at her brother and tapped his hand. Quinn was on his mind, he really wanted to see her, but he wasn't going to mention her in front of Finn. "I've got some bad news." The guy's tensed up visibly, their first thoughts were the worst. "I'm off the team. My dad doesn't want me on it any more."

"Are you serious?" The shock, outrage and disappointment was a nice feeling. To know that they did want him on their team, even if now he couldn't be on it. "That blows."

"You lot will just have to kick some asses without my brother." Lily commented absently, "I'm afraid it's time for you all to leave, my father will have the paperwork for Thomas' release done any moment now and we'll be on our way home ourselves."

"I just have something I need to say." Everyone looked at Finn in surprise. "Thank you, not just for helping us win this game but for having all of our backs over the past few weeks." Finn left and everyone followed. Puck stayed behind.

"I could come over tomorrow." Puck commented awkwardly, "We could have a beer or two, watch a game, talk about our ladies." Puck glanced at Lily and smiled innocently, "If that's okay with you, Mrs Michaelson?"

Lily pouted and tapped Thomas on the arm. "I'm not even thirty yet, I thought I looked young for my age." Puck winced at her words. "Yes. You can come over and have _a_ beer." Her eyes flickered to both boys as she gave them a serious smile. "And I mean _a_ beer."

-0-

Thomas had been able to come home, fortunately. It had taken a long dispute about getting into a wheelchair to leave, but in the end Thomas' father told them it wasn't going to happen and Thomas walked out. A limousine waited outside for them, Cody was excited about riding in it and this time Lily had smiled at her son. One day he'll be able to do whatever he wanted, but she would make him work hard. She would not allow her son to become a spoilt, selfish brat. Not that it was even possible. Thomas had to carry around an oxygen tank for awhile, it had small tubes that were inserted into his nostrils to help him breath easier.

It was past two in the morning by the time they finally returned home. Cody had fallen asleep in the limousine, Richard had picked him up without a word and brought him up to his room. Lily had helped Thomas get inside the house into his room, Richard was gone before she made her way back into the living-room. They probably wouldn't see him for another four years. It was way past her bed time.

Thomas lay in his room, drowsy and bored. He put his television onto a comedy channel and lowered the volume so not to wake anyone. It was strange laying there with a wired tube in his nostrils. He glanced around for his phone, it was on his bedside table, thankfully he hadn't brought it with him for the game. He had two missed calls, Rachel and Quinn, half of dozen messages as well.

He searched his contacts and pressed the call button. It seemed to ring forever. "Hey." He probably should have waited until morning, but he couldn't help but want to hear her voice.

A sigh of relief flooded his ears. "You were told not to play." Thomas grinned at her words. Of course she would start there, not with a simple; are you okay? "You're such an idiot."

"I'm your idiot though." Thomas countered with a teasing tone. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Quinne." He knew he would be waking her, he just hoped she wouldn't mind.

"It's okay, I'm glad you did. I was worried." The thing about Quinn is that when she says something like 'I was worried', you knew she was telling the truth, because she wasn't keen on expressing her emotions to anyone.

"Don't be. I'm fine. I just have this oxygen tank I need to carry around with me for a little while, but I'm fine." Would he ever tell her what might have happened if a little more force was used in the tackle? Probably not. It's not worth making somebody worry over something that never happened. It wasn't like he _had_ drown to death, it just _nearly_ happened.

"Can I come and see you?" Thomas' eyes flew open in surprise, she still sounded hopeful. She shouldn't. She is beyond welcome to see him. Whenever she wanted.

"Now?" It was nearly three in the morning and she wanted to come see him, he shouldn't be so surprised, he knew she was different from the beginning.

"If that's alright?" It didn't seem like a good idea. It would include lying to her parents, driving half-asleep and spending the night with her. It wasn't enough for him to change the first answer that shot into his head.

"Quinn, I'll never say no to you seeing me." It was the truth. Anyone who could say no to Quinn Fabray was insane. She was like a fallen angel. There was a time when she was pure, perfect in every way. Then High School came and her innocence was destroyed. Just because they have a moment of weakness doesn't mean that they lose their angelic ways. It just means that they need another chance. Thomas would give Quinn a thousand chances if that's what she needed.

"I'll be there soon." Thomas was glad that he was a naturally clean person, because rushing around to clean his room would not be a valid option. He had already changed into some pyjamas at the hospital, he didn't care if people saw him.

When Quinn got to his house, she called him to open the door. Thomas got out of bed and brought his oxygen tank with him. When he opened the door he couldn't help the smile that stretched his cheeks. She had obviously changed into her normal clothes. She still had bed head, though it had been tamed with some sort of brush over, and her face was without make-up. "Hello, beautiful."

Quinn's eyes flickered from the oxygen tank, to the tubes entering his nose. "You are such an idiot." Her hand moved to caress his face. "I didn't let you in so that I could lose you." She had lost everybody that she cared about for one reason or another. Her sister had moved away, her father had become an alcoholic and she couldn't look at her mom without remembering what her father had done in the previous nights. She hadn't trusted Thomas with her heart, she hadn't let him in so that he could just disappear. They had been dating for a week but she had spent over a month thinking about him. Every decision, every single thought she had lately was about him.

"Quinn." Thomas sighed as he took her hand and applied a comforting pressure, he let a silence overtake them as he shut the door quietly and dragged her into his room. On instinct Quinn lay on _her_ side of the bed, Thomas always lay on the left, 'closer to the door' was his only explanation. Thomas lay facing the ceiling, he wished he could face her but the surgery had been on his chest and he didn't want to chance ripping the stitches out, Quinn didn't have the same problem. "Quinn, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not even on the team any more." Quinn rolled onto her side and moved to place her arm around him, Thomas moved it lower to avoid his stitches. "Stitches."

She glanced up at him with a questioning gaze. "You weren't kicked off the team." There was no way he was kicked off the team because he couldn't play. His sacrifice had won them the game, even if nobody had known about his ribs, they did see the paramedics carry him away.

Thomas smiled at her quiet outrage. He had heard comments both from Finn and Puck, though most weren't said in his direction, about Quinn. She didn't let Finn get past first base, she didn't show an interest in Finn, she only cared about herself. It didn't seem that way to Thomas, he hoped it had something to do with the way she felt about him compared to how she felt about Finn. No matter how silly it sounded, he hoped that she felt the same about him that he felt for her. "No. I wasn't kicked off the team, at least not by the coach."

"Then by who?" Thomas shrugged softly, he glanced at her as she lay her head down and yawned.

"My father." Quinn's eyes widened in surprise, her curiosity always flared up about his family. As far as she could tell, he didn't have any friends before moving here and the only family she knew of was his father and Lily. She didn't even know his father's name, never mind his mother's. His whole life before Lima was a mystery. "He flew my sister home on a chopper, he had a few words to say." Thomas paused as he tried to mimic his father's strong, emotionless tone, "You're off the team, no more stupid little games. Oh and I've just brought a house in this wretched town, every so often I'm going to come back and we're going to have dinner together."

"Why don't you like your father, Thomas?" Thomas looked at her and frowned. He didn't want her to know how damaged he was, she couldn't know, she would look at him differently. "You don't have to tel,"

"He wasn't there when I needed him most." Quinn wasn't sure what to say. So she stayed quiet in hopes that he might continue. He didn't. Instead he gently leaned over and kissed her on the top of her head. "Why don't you go back to sleep? I'm having Puck over for a beer tomorrow, maybe you could ask Santana and Brittany to come over."

It was surprising that Thomas was okay with Santana coming over, considering she was the biggest bully in McKinley, but it was amazing that he would lower his morals so that he could try to get to know her "friends". Even if the odds of Santana being nice long enough for a mutual friendship with Thomas was impossible, she hoped that they could become friends. After all, Santana and Brittany are her best friends, dysfunctional and strange sure, but they were still her best friends. The only two people who meant anything to her before Thomas came along.

"Sure. We'll make an evening of it."

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	10. Pain, Drugs & Blackmail

For hours he stared at the ceiling, an empty, cold look marring his usually charming features. He had always suffered with Insomnia, he thought too much, he could never get his mind to stop. Usually it was about something he had read or watched on television, there was never actually anything else to think about in that eerie mansion, but recently his mind had so much more to process. Unfortunately, even with everything else going on in his life, it was actually the past that plagued his mind. Every thought, every single time his eyes shut, it seemed to be taunting him. The accident. The event that forever changed him. To watch as his mother sat in that car… well it's not exactly the nicest thing to repeatedly see over and over again.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing bothering him. His chest felt like it was on fire, a newly forged knife carving at his insides. It was like lava was scorching everything slowly, trying to maximise pain. There was a time when he had welcomed pain. A time when he relished the feeling. It's better to feel pain than nothing at all. When you add that with the damn tubes wrapped around his ear into his nostrils, he just couldn't find a position where the tube didn't feel unstable. Maybe he should have stayed in the mansion, at least the only painful thing there was the family portraits. They were easily covered.

Quinn had fallen asleep quickly, rolling onto her side facing away from Thomas, 'I don't want to hurt you'. He knew that his feelings for her were questionable, he knew that this was strange. There was just something about her, she intrigued him. It had all started because he had finally left that mansion and he was sat next to the exquisite beauty that was Quinn Fabray. Then he had sat down and spoken to her, he hadn't judged her by everyone else's opinion, he wanted to make his own. Never judge a book by it's cover. It was true that he was going against everything he believed in for her, but she seemed worth it. She just needed a chance. She wasn't a bad person, she was just misunderstood. She was scared of something. Her insane obsession with popularity, power and control had to have come from somewhere. At some point she had been someone's victim. At some point she had been hurt and if he could just help her feel safe to be herself again, he truly believed that she would be a good person. At least he hoped. There was only so much that he could pretend to not see or hear. There was a limit to his patience and if anyone was going to hit it, Quinn would be that person.

Thomas sat up awkwardly before lowering his feet to the ground. His hands found his face as he let out a mixture of a sigh and a groan. The pain was beginning to become unbearable, the stress of his thoughts even more so. The sun still hadn't rose, it felt like he had been staring at the ceiling for hours. The moonlight continued to guide his path into the bathroom. The splash of cold water hitting his face was oddly satisfying. He glanced at himself in the mirror, he could barely recognize himself. There was a time when a smile had felt so natural, but lately just attempting to smile seemed to hurt. The look in his eyes made him shiver, there was a time when they held warmth, kindness and curiosity. No longer. Now they seemed almost lifeless, as though his soul had been stolen, leaving a shell to continue pretending. His hair had grown so much in the short period of time he had resided in Lima, his mother always preferred his hair short. 'Makes my baby look perfect. The most handsome boy in existence'. It had annoyed him once, when she called him her baby, now he yearned to hear it once more. Quinn had asked why he didn't follow the laws of his religion. She asked how he could be a catholic, but not believe in God. He didn't answer her, but his answer screamed from the tip of his tongue. If there was a God; why was his mother taken? Why did she deserve to die? They say that the best are taken young. She burned to death as much crueller men, much more monstrous human beings leave the world in a more pleasant fashion. If there was a God, he wasn't somebody Thomas would ever want to believe in. It was hypocritical to say, considering he had prayed more than once for her to be in a place of tranquillity.

He dried his face with a towel before reinserting the tube into his nose. He couldn't wait to rid himself of the oxygen canister. He made his way into the kitchen for a glass of water. After filling a glass he moved into the living-room and sat on the sofa, turning the television on and lowering the sound quickly. He wasn't even watching it, he just wanted something to fill the silence lingering in the air. It had just went six, Rachel would have just woke up. He took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through the contacts until he found Rachel Berry*, she really loved stars.

It rang three times before she answered it. Her voice was groggy and sleepy. "Hello." She sounded adorable, entirely innocent and carefree. It was nice to hear her without the worry and lack of self-confidence. Everyone considers Rachel Berry to be a self-confident, egotistical diva. They think that she only cares about herself and while she does have moments of bad judgement, she _does_ care for others. She just desires to feel special and _wanted._ She knows that she can sing, she's been practising her whole life, she doesn't mean to shove it in their faces… she just wants them to see her. She wants them to see that she _is_ worth something.

"Hey, Rachel." His voice was weak and faint, he coughed roughly before taking a sip of water. "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner."

"I had to find out that you were okay from Noah," Rachel confessed almost inaudibly. "I was worried." She had spent most of the night awake, waiting for a call. She was so sure that he would call, tell her himself that he was okay. She needed the reassurance.

"You shouldn't worry about me, Rachel. You have much more pressing things to think about." It was hard. When you spend so much time in a place by yourself, you forget that you need to think about other people. You forget that people care, because nobody had for so long. It's a hard habit to break.

"I can't just not worry about you. You're my friend, my _only_ friend." An intake of breath seemed to linger forever. "I care about you… I just can't figure out why you don't care about yourself." Thomas chuckled humourlessly, she was right. He didn't care about himself, at least not about his health. There was a long period of time after he woke up at the hospital when he hated the doctor, he hated the paramedics. There was a stirring thought that wondered why he couldn't just catch a break and stay asleep.

"I hope you never have to find out." Thomas sat back up at the sound of soft footsteps ambling down the stairs. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I have to go, I hope that your day proves helpful." He pressed the hang up button with a sigh, Cody walked around the corner with a sleepy look.

"What's wrong, bud?" Cody took a seat by Thomas, careful not to go to close in fear of hurting him. He frowned as his eyes flickered to the oxygen tank to the tube that entered Thomas' nose. His Uncle was supposed to be invincible, like every hero, but he wasn't.

"I had a nightmare." Cody paused as he looked away from Thomas, uncomfortable by his following words. "Daddy came home and he was angry and you couldn't help because you're already hurt." Thomas hadn't felt so guilty by someone's words in a long time. He had been so selfish when he played in the game, he hadn't thought about anyone else but himself. He was here to protect the people he loved, the people that meant the world to him and instead he had went out for the glory of winning a stupid game. He was a moron, but he wouldn't make that mistake again; from now on his main focus was Cody and Lily. Nothing will come before them again.

"Come here, Cody." Thomas caught Cody frown as his eyes lingered on his oxygen tank. "Come here." He pulled Cody over to him gently before giving him an awkward hug, the pain was immense as he pulled the little boy into his side. "Your dad isn't coming back ever again and if he does, I _will_ look after you and mommy. I'm more than capable of looking after you, mate, I just need a little help breathing is all."

Cody glanced up and nodded sadly. He knew that Thomas was lying, he knew that his uncle couldn't save anyone in the state that he was in."Okay, but I don't think we should play fight until you can breath normally." Thomas nodded as he applied a little pressure around Cody's arm. Cody sat back and took the controller. "I think we should watch peter pan to make you feel better."

Thomas smiled and nodded. "I feel better already."

-0-

The two must have sat there for an hour before rays of sunlight beamed through the curtains. When Lily came down the stairs, Cody was sitting calmly next to Thomas, his full attention stuck on the television. Thomas had fallen asleep. "What do you want for breakfast, Cody?"

Cody glanced up at his mom and smiled. "Me and Thomas want pancakes" Lily tilted her head slightly with an annoyed look. "Please, thank you."

Lily shook her head and moved into the kitchen. Pancakes were much healthier than what Thomas repeatedly made. The amount of times she had caught her son eating a bacon, egg and sausage sandwich was irritating. She spent years making sure Cody ate fruit and vegetables, then Thomas came and suddenly Cody didn't like sprouts, broccoli and cabbage. To be fair, Thomas had tried to convince Cody into eating them again, but it was difficult. Thomas was Cody's role model, the person he looked up to. If Thomas liked something then Cody liked it too, if Thomas didn't like it then Cody didn't either. It would be adorable if it weren't so damn annoying.

If there was anything worse than her son picking up bad eating habits, it would be a girl leaving Thomas' room. Especially a beautiful cheerleader; no matter how polite and friendly they act, they can never be trusted. "Quinn." Her tone was calm and polite, but she wasn't happy. She had told Thomas hours ago that she was going to start enforcing rules, she was going to keep him grounded. Lily gave Quinn a polite smile, "Pancakes?"

Quinn hadn't considered this part. Telling her parents that she had woken up early and decided to visit Brittany or Santana was easy. "I'll pass, thank you." Lily shrugged before removing a pancake. "Is Thomas still here?"

"You didn't sleep with my brother last night, did you?" Lily's bluntness caught Quinn by surprise. She stood still in shock, unsure what to say, small stutters left her throat.

"No."

"Good." Lily picked up a plate as she glanced at Quinn again, her smile still lingering tightly. "My brother is about to be woken up. Wait here." Lily passed by Quinn without another word.

She should smack Thomas over the head with a wooden spoon, at least threaten to, it always worked when their grandmother threatened them. She was one scary, little ol' lady. She placed the plate on the coffee table. "Remember not to make a mess." She tapped Cody on the back as he got up and moved to the sweet smelling pancakes. She nudged Thomas lightly on the arm, the intense look of pain and anger on his face made her move back. "Quinn Fabray is in my kitchen."

"She wanted to come over. We talked, she fell asleep and then I stared at the ceiling for countless hours. We done?" Lily glared at him as she stood up and moved to the door. Her brother could be a moron when he wanted to be.

"I'm going to get your medication. Why don't you go and see to your friend?"

"Quinne is here?" Cody stared curiously at Thomas, innocent judgemental eyes, they expressed more than Lily's did. "I'm not pressing pause."

Thomas chuckled while messing up Cody's hair. "I wouldn't even ask."

-0-

Thomas walked into the kitchen with a tight smile. He had never spent the night sleeping with a girl before, well, he had never slept with a girl who didn't leave before he woke up. "Morning." He took a seat next to her at the island.

Quinn seemed happier, not exactly cheerful, but happier. There was even a small smile lingering where a usual scowl sat. "Good morning." She leaned over and kissed him, she leaned back slowly. "Couldn't sleep?" For so long Quinn had only asked questions, made actions and listened to anything that benefited her. She didn't want to do that any more. She wanted to be the kind of girlfriend who asked about his likes and dislikes, worry about his health, care about his opinions. It was going to be hard, she knew that, nobody changes overnight. It didn't exactly help that Thomas' life was completely off-limits. Even if they hadn't technically made it official.

"I couldn't get comfortable and my head was filled with too much. I couldn't stop thinking." He took her hand and squeezed slightly, "I know I asked if you wanted to have Santana and Brittany over tonight, but I was hoping that maybe we could do that another time."

Quinn's smile slowly disappeared. "Yeah. Of course. I don't want you to do anything that you don't feel up to. We can just watch a movie by ourselves." Thomas winced and Quinn's smile was gone. She took her hand back.

"Actually, I was hoping that I could be by myself tonight." Quinn nodded quickly as her face became impassive. "Don't be like that, Quinn. I just some time alone, I need to think. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong. You've been here every single night in the past week, you slept in my bed last night. I just need one night by myself, I need space. Not from just you, but from everyone. Everyone's been on my bloody arse since the moment I've been here. I've spent the last four years of my life locked up in seclusion. I was all alone. I spoke to no-one. I ate with no-one. I saw no-one. I answered to no-one. Do you have any idea what that's like? Do you know how hard it is for me to even speak to someone, to even go outside… to smile and pretend I'm fine?" Quinn was speechless. He finally told her something about his past. She had no idea. She didn't know what to say. Thomas stopped speaking, he paused with a look of realisation. He wasn't sure what came over him but he was done talking. He leaned over to her and kissed her forehead before walking away.

Lily walked in with an emotionless expression, her eyes dead, her tone cold. She stood in front of Quinn and crossed her arms. "I know you care about my brother, I do." Quinn nodded silently, she honestly did. "I don't care. What I do care about is my brother. Right now, he's being emotional and he's not thinking right, being in a relationship isn't what he needs. Especially not with a Fabray. I don't want you seeing my brother any more." Quinn's head shot up to Lily's defiantly, she wasn't going to stop seeing Thomas. She was a Fabray and nobody told a Fabray what to do.

"You can't make me. I like him, and he likes me, I won't give him up." The smirk that stretched across Lily's face made her sick to her stomach. She never thought she would have to do this. She never thought she would be like her father… she never thought she would be like her mother.

"I _can_ make you, Quinn. You see my father owns pretty much everything in this town. As much as he hates to admit it, there's nothing he wouldn't do for his children. He would destroy your family in seconds, he could erase you from existence. You would be nothing; is my brother worth that? Stop this from going any further, before it becomes something remotely painful to lose." Lily walked out of the room with looking back. If Quinn even mentioned what she had just done… she had just made a bold decision. It was for his own good.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there in shock, but at some point Thomas came back in with a worried look. He took a seat. "I'm sorry, Quinn. I didn't mean to snap at you."

Quinn shook her head, she didn't have a choice, with that annoying impassive façade. "No. You were right. You should get yourself together." Thomas smiled at her understanding, but as he moved to take her hand she stood up and moved back. "I think that you should do that alone. I don't think that continuing this is a good idea. Let's save ourselves from getting attached before it's too late." She tried not to let her voice crack, she tried not to cry. She was already attached to him. She had been since the second he walked into her class, the first time he smiled at her, the first time he spoke to her. She couldn't lose her future for him. They had been dating for a week, they weren't even official yet, she couldn't chance everything on him. She couldn't… no matter how much her heart wanted to.

Thomas stared at her in disbelief. "Because I want one night alone? You can't be serious." He moved to her cautiously. He placed his hand on her cheek and made her look him in the eyes. "I care for you, Quinn Fabray, I want to spend my time with you." The emotion that stirred within him when he saw her was more than anything he had felt in years, at least anything good anyway. "Why does one single night mean that much to you? You can stay, we can watch a movie… please."

The desperation in his voice finally brought tears to her eyes, before he could see she turned. "I just don't want to risk getting hurt." Once again she was the bad guy. Once again she had to make it about her, it was so unfair. She never would have expected Lily to make her do this, she had seemed so nice. Even the nicest people can be cruel, her father had taught her that. Not everyone is as they seem. "You're just not worth it." Even with all of her will power her voice broke. They had spent so much time together over the previous weeks, he had made her smile countless times, he had made her feel wanted. He made made her feel like she could be anyone; for the smallest amount of time she had felt cared for. She could deal with his past, she could deal with him needing space, but now she wasn't even allowed to try.

"You don't mean that." His voice was so cold, so dead. He grabbed her and turned her back towards him. "Look at me." She kept her eyes away, he couldn't see the tears. "Quinn. Look. At. Me." His words held a bite that she hadn't heard from him before. His hand moved under her chin and he moved her head in his direction. She didn't have the will or the strength to fight him. "What brought this on? Is it what I said? Is it because I said I was in seclusion for years?" Quinn shook her head silently. "Is this because I won't tell you about my family, about my past? Because I'll tell you everything you want to know." She pulled away from him forcefully.

"I just don't think that your worth the risk."

"What risk?" His voice had took on an edge, anger screamed from each word spoken, even as he looked so calm. "Is this about your father? Maybe it was mine." Her eyes flickered back to his questioningly.

"This has nothing to do with my father or yours."

"So this just happened did it? You just woke up this morning and thought 'nah, it's not worth it'. Last night you drove to my home, you lay in my bed, you were worried. That just changed did it. You don't care any more."

She didn't realise it would be this hard. She didn't realise she would feel so much. With Finn, with Finn the break up was easy. 'We're done.' That was it. That's all she had said. Even without the non-existent feelings for him, she might have felt bad once, but then Finn had kissed her. The girl who got everything but Quinn also had feelings for Thomas. She had been on her way to loving him, it wasn't all that hard to do. So she hadn't been angry, she had been relieved that she wouldn't look like the bad guy for dumping him. She had a pretty good person waiting for her, too good. "I still have feelings for Finn." That's what hurts the most isn't it. Being told that the person you want, still wants someone else.

"That's not true, I know you didn't have feelings for him. You're lying to me." His voice broke as a single tear wormed it's way down his cheek. "I haven't felt it in a long time, but I'm falling in love with you, Quinn." Quinn shrugged as she stormed out of the room, she couldn't turn back. She couldn't. Thomas sat at the island with an expressionless look. Lily walked in and took a seat next to him. "I quite like how I feel. You can bin those tablets."

"Thomas..."

"I said bin them." Even in his quiet tone, the rage and ferocity that burned viciously in his words made her flinch. "You're not our mother, Lily. She's dead. If I ever want to take them, I will. Not because _someone else_ told me to." He stood up and moved to a high cupboard, he pulled out a bottle of Captain Morgan. "Now, I'm going to visit the one person who hasn't been making demands and expectations of me."

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	11. The Brooding Truth

"You shouldn't need this any more." The doctor held the oxygen canister in his hand with a smile. "You actually didn't need this a few weeks ago, but you missed your appointment and you didn't make another. Do you want to talk about it, son?"

"James." Thomas sighed with a bored expression. "Why you ask that question, I'll never know. You should know by now, that in my family, you don't talk about your problems, especially to a guy who's not even a shrink." He took his pocket watch out and shook his head. It was four twenty-eight in the afternoon."We done? I have somewhere I need to be."

Dr Samuels glanced at Thomas. He really was just like his father, there was a lot of differences between them, but there was a lot of similarities too. The doctor gave him one last look, the boy in front of him looked ready to collapse in exhaustion. Bags dragged his eyes down, pale skin made him look like a ghost, his eyes seemed lifeless. He had yawned seven times in five minutes. "I'm going to write you a prescription for Restoril, it should help you fall asleep _and_ stay asleep. I'll give you enough for a week and if you still have problems sleeping after the week is over, I want you back in here."

"Sure thing, Doc." Thomas took the prescription from his hand and stood up, a sense of relief hit him, because the usual added weight of the oxygen canister was now gone. "Well I have a very miserable meal to attend with my father. So, wish me luck."

Three weeks had passed since his argument with Quinn. It had been quite dull and boring. He had went to Rachel's house after the argument, her fathers had once again went on another "business" trip. Rachel had made it seem like their repetitive trips, that were getting longer and longer, weren't bothering her but Thomas had been through it. He knew how it felt to watch your parents leave for a two week business trip that was most likely going to get extended… and she wasn't a very good actor, or at least not a very good liar. He had gotten completely trashed at her house. When he woke up the next day, he was sitting in the most uncomfortable position. Rachel had fallen asleep too, except she had been laying down the night before with her legs stretched over Thomas. He decided to try and get up without waking her, but her phone alarm beat him to it. She hadn't drank the tiniest amount of alcohol with Thomas, he didn't even try and convince her to, he wasn't a fan of peer pressure, but he wished he was the next day. Within moments of waking up she had the broadest, yet slightly embarrassed, smile. Rachel was way too energetic in the morning, it amazed him that she could be so awake within moments of her eyes opening.

He hadn't spoke to Quinn since their argument. Thomas had caught a few glances sent in his direction, filled with longing and desire, but also looks of guilt and sadness. It was like she wanted to be with him, but then these expressions filled with realisation and thought burned them away instantly. Quinn's emotions quickly became shielded as she turned and disappeared before his very eyes. He hadn't spoke to her since. He didn't want to hear more of her lies. Something _had_ happened to make her change her mind about them and it wasn't because he snapped at her. It couldn't have been because when she said that she understood, there was nothing but pure honesty written in her eyes. She obviously needed something, realised something or disliked something. He was sure for so long that it was his fault. He was positive that it was because he didn't share anything about his past, and that he didn't like to talk about his family. Then he started to think. If there was any definite thing that could have caused this, it would have to be an outside party. Her parents perhaps, maybe her father didn't want her dating someone who wasn't on the team, maybe he was just being a douchebag. It seemed unlikely though, Quinn was like her father, they both loved power, the ability of having control over somebody. His daughter dating a son of a wealthy man only helped him. He didn't let his mind get trapped on it for too long, Quinn would come to him when she wanted to be honest. If she ever wanted to be honest that was.

Puck had helped him brood for awhile. Getting drunk in bars, he had fake , it didn't surprise Thomas when Puck pulled them out. Of course they didn't work, neither of them looked twenty-five. Thomas taught Puck something that night. 'Everyone has a price... sometimes it's not necessarily money', but luckily it was for the bouncer at the door. He had only asked for a twenty, Thomas would of gave him more. There's a trick to bargaining, whether it's for a purchase or a bribe, or even selling something. If you only want a dollar for your badge, tell them you want three, if you're willing to pay one hundred dollars for something, tell them you'll pay ten. Gives you room to bargain. They had gotten drunk, Puck had even convinced Thomas to share a spliff with him, after much convincing. Thomas was going through a break-up and Puck was there to help him. Alcohol, drugs and women. That was another mistake Puck had convinced Thomas to make, calling up the girls that he had slept with at Puck's party. Needless to say that was something that stayed with them, Puck had promised. 'What happens on bro nights, stays in bro nights'. Puck had been pretty helpful.

Needless to say it was all just a distraction. The moment the alcohol, drugs and girls were all gone, school started again and Thomas was sat next to Quinn. Nearly every lesson, the teachers made them sit next to one another, even when there wasn't a seating plan. Seemed the teachers had noticed their discomfort and wanted to maximise it for their own amusement. That wasn't what was happening, but Thomas and Quinn would argue their point until they passed out. Even Glee club was especially awkward, Thomas had been going regularly, for Shuester, Rachel and Puck, he played the piano at their request. He had even considered joining, the only thing that held him back was dancing, he really didn't like dancing.

Growing up travelling was the most boring thing he ever had to deal with. It included more dancing than he would ever admit, he had even gotten pretty good at it… you have to when you're dancing with royalty. Can't step on a princess' toes. His mother had even made him learn how to sing, his grandmother was even worst for it. His mother taught him how to play the guitar on her moments with him at home, his grandmother was more of a piano person. When she played it was like she was telling a story, sometimes it made you smile, sometimes it made you cry. It was always beautiful. She taught him everything she could. It was fun and at times tedious, but it was always relaxing and calming.

-0-

"What's this about?" Thomas was sitting with his father at a booth, they both had burgers and fries in front of them. There were three body guards dressed like casual people, eating at their own tables. This was the last place Thomas wanted to be, he preferred to keep a safe distance from his father.

Richard put some fries in his mouth, giving himself a few moments to consider his words. "Can a father not visit his son without reason?"

"Not you." Thomas scoffed quickly, his expression was just as impassive as his father's, but his tone held anger and bitterness, unlike his father's usual authoritative monotone voice. "You prefer to stay away from your children, especially when they need you."

"Well I'm here now aren't I?" Richard glanced up at Thomas, Thomas wanted to punch the man in the face. He made it sound like the past didn't matter, like everything before _this_ meal didn't matter. "Your sister told me that you've been brooding over some girl."

"Oh." Thomas chuckled humourlessly, "Is that what this is about? You want to have a chat with your son, tell him that there are more fish in the sea."

"I never did like it when people talked in the third person." The table went silent, the two simply sat there, occasionally eating their food. "I told you that I had brought a house here and I've been waiting for the interior designers to finish some of the rooms that weren't complete." He paused as he sat back and rubbed his stomach. "Everything is finally finished." Richard took out some keys and slid the across the table. "The house is all yours."

"You're not serious." Thomas stared at the keys. Would it be nice to have his own place? Yes. It would give him the space that he had been wanting and he didn't have anything to worry about at Lily's house. Alexander hadn't done anything over the past few months, he went to work and he went home, so that wasn't a problem either. There was just a, very silent, part of him that had hoped he would see his father more. "I thought that you brought it so that we could spend time together?"

"What?" Richard looked at his son as though he had just made the most moronic comment ever mentioned. "I would never stay in this, place. I had breakfast and lunch with your sister and my grandson and we're having dinner together now. Is that not enough?"

"You actually trust that I'm responsible enough to live alone?" Thomas wasn't sure why he kept trying to make reasons for why his father should take the keys back, he really did want a place of his own, but he also didn't want to be alone again.

"You, are your mother's son." That comment most likely answered a lot in Richard's head, but it meant nothing to Thomas. The truth was that Thomas didn't really know how his mother was with awkward decisions. He saw her once or twice a month, unless he had some kind of event, but even then she would disappear shortly after it would finish. "You're a young man, heir to billions of dollars, if you can't handle living in a house without messing something up… then we have a bigger problem then my trust in you. My only request is that there isn't any parties to be hosted in that house."

Thomas took the keys and pocketed them. "Alright, sure. Why not?" Richard took out his wallet and paid the bill.

"Well then, son. I'll drive you up there before I take the chopper to my meeting." Thomas nodded with a shrug. As the two of them stood up, the three body guards stood up with them. "You know I really think that you should buy some suits. You look like a right filthy commoner."

"… I'll pass."

The drive to the house was filled with silence, the occasion glance full of thought. The house was just outside of the town, thirty minutes if Thomas was driving. It was a nice house, even if it was secluded, it was quite modern in style. It wouldn't have surprised Thomas if his father had it built. It was after all his mother's home-town, and as much as Richard hated the small town, he loved his wife enough to return with her. She never actually asked that of him.

The house looked like it was easily four floors tall. It was only two, the ceiling on each significantly higher than it needed to be. The glass windows that should let you see in seemed fogged over, allowing for the ultimate level of privacy. Instead of the usual detailed brick walls, it was a solid white colour with the occasional black wall, providing a clean modern look.

"How did you get this built in three months?" Richard glanced at his son with a look explaining his disappointment. When Richard Michaelson wanted something done, it got done, as fast as he wanted it done. No questions. "And it's seriously mine?"

"This was done a long time ago. I wasn't sure how long you would be here and luckily you have your mother's taste, when it comes to these things anyway. I remember when you were a little boy, you would get scared at night in your room and come into the living-room, you would sit in your mother's lap and watch television with us." A slight smile pulled at Richards lips, the first Thomas had seen in a long time. Even before his mother's death. "I remember you saying that you wished you lived in a small town, somewhere were everyone knew one another, somewhere were everyone was friendly to one another. I guess you finally got what you wanted."

"It's not quite what I thought it would be." Thomas sighed as he opened the door up, the body guards waited at the front door. "I've considered just packing up a few times."

The foyer was larger than it needed to be, it wasn't like the old mansion foyer in his father's mansion, luckily it was much smaller. On the side an archway led him into the living-room. Three of the walls were plain white, the wall with the large television mounted on it was a darker colour, it looked like a basalt brick. A plain white carpet lay across the room, a dark grey rug with patterns across it lay in the centre of the room, under a squared black coffee table. A white corner-sofa surrounded the rug, facing directly at the television.

"Dad." Thomas wasn't sure whether to thank him, or just keep quiet. The truth was that he probably wouldn't live here the entire time, he left the mansion so that he wasn't alone, he didn't want to go back to that. He would probably spend the weekends up here, his own fortress of solitude, it almost seemed like a waste. "You're seriously not sleeping here?"

"I told you, Tom." Richard's face seemed to age as he sighed. "I will never stay in this town. I might have with your mother, but now, there's no reason to stay." Thomas glanced at the stairs, they lined up against the wall neatly, a slight open gap in between each one. He was a little more excited than he let show, this was going to be his place after all. It would have been nice if he could sleep under the same roof as his father just one more time, but it wasn't a comment he was going to say aloud.

"Your minions are waiting outside, I suppose you're leaving soon."

Richard glanced at his son and gave him a tight smile. "One day, you'll see for yourself just how busy my work is… it will be yours after all." It was a topic that his father commented on a lot. Even while Thomas was recovering from the coma, he would comment on how his son couldn't be a cripple if he was to own multi-billion dollar companies. Not that anyone would ever actually know about it, in fact Thomas wasn't actually sure what Richard did exactly. His father never actually ran any business, he had a lot of investments worldwide, but what he actually did that kept him so busy? Thomas wasn't sure.

"I hope not." Richard's smile vanished as he nodded calmly, "I want a family when I'm older and I want to be a father. Not just a guy that shows up once in a while, I never want to have a house built for my child because I feel guilty that I was never there for them." Thomas' words were filled with bitterness and anger, Richard simply nodded calmly before turning back to the door.

"I would have had your car and your motorcycle brought here, but I know how touchy you're with people touching them. I did have a car put in your garage though, a present from your old man." Richard gave Thomas one last smile before leaving through the front door. Thomas almost felt bad at his words, but they were true. That's what all of this was. A pay off. A way to get rid of guilt.

Thomas continued exploring the house. The kitchen and the dining room were attached, not that it mattered, Thomas wasn't eating at a table by himself any time soon. Thomas always loved big kitchens, he had loved his grandmother's smaller comfortable kitchen, but he definitely preferred the bigger kitchens. It just made everything easier, you could actually breath and there was just more room. There was a large marble island in the middle of the kitchen, a sink built into it, white counters fitted against the walls. Blue seat stools lined the island, it would be a good place to have breakfast. There was two cookers, one was built into a long cupboard, another was built into a counter allowing for frying and anything else he might need to do in the future, the metallic objects stood out boldly. There was even things like a kettle, jars filled with tea, coffee and sugar.. his father had made sure everything was here. The best part was the windows to the back garden.

A large pool was surrounded by clean stone, loungers circles the side of it, on the other side was a table with a large parasol covering it. A barbecue grill sat next to the table, everything looked perfect. He would love living here, he almost wished he could convince Lily to live here instead, but she was never keen with using things their father gave them. Normally he felt the same way, but he really needed somewhere he could just chill and relax, the fact that most of it had been designed by his mother helped as well.

His feet brought him back into the house. His eyes flickered into downstairs bathroom, there was a bath/shower and a toilet in there, both were black, a dark contrast to the white tiles. He moved into the garage next. A black Aston Martin One-Seventy-Seven glared at him as the bright light shined onto it. It made Thomas wonder if his father actually did listen to him, he had commented on how he liked the car once, he would never actually drive it though. What's the point in a car that can go fast, if there was a speeding limit of thirty miles per hour? He would use it once, to get his actual car up here.

He moved upstairs, searching for his room. There were four rooms in total, each room was a nice size, the forth being slightly bigger. It made him pause when he walked into the master room. It was decorated differently, it had his things from his grandmother's house. From the wolf bed set, to the photo of his mother, to the photo of his whole family. The large super-king sized bed lay in the centre of the back wall, facing another large television, an xbox sat on a shelf underneath the television. Another rug sat on oak wood flooring, a mirror on the wall covered a walk-in-cupboard. A large window let sun rays flood the room with warmth. The only difference between his room and the three others was the bed set and the photo of his mother that sat on the bedside table. Other than that they were all the same. It was nice. It was also quiet, too quiet. There was a lot of times when Thomas wanted to be alone, but tonight wasn't one of them.

-0-

It was over an hour later before Thomas reached Rachel's house. He had considered going to Puck's house, but he had made a comment about Santana finally letting him have "another go". It had been weird talking to Rachel after Quinn broke up with him, it was as though she seemed to have a thing for him, and he truly hoped that wasn't the case. It wasn't that she wasn't attractive, because she was. It wasn't that she was talkative and obnoxious, because Thomas had become quite fond of her, he even thought her diva storm outs were adorable. It wasn't even that he found her boring, because he actually found her quite interesting. He could even listen to her sing for hours given the opportunity. It was just that her behaviour seemed more about the fact that he showed her attention and cared about her, then the fact that she actually wanted to be with him. Not to mention the whole weird thing with Quinn and Finn. That's not to say he wouldn't date her though, they were teenagers and it was more than possible that they might date. If he felt that it was about him, and not for the attention.

He knocked on the door and waited patiently. He wasn't even sure if she was in, but it was rare to find her outside of her house. The only things that actually brought her outside were school, her lessons and the odd choice to go for a walk. The door swung open. "Hey."

Rachel gestured for him to come in. "What brings you over?" The two made their way into the living-room and sat down on the sofa. Thomas sat back with his head resting on the back, Rachel crossed her legs and turned to face him. "You finally got rid of that canister."

Thomas smiled at her relieved smile. "I did. Then I had dinner with my father, and then he gave me a house." Rachel's eyes widened in surprise, she wasn't sure if she heard right. Thomas had told her that he didn't expect to see his father again for a long time, but to hear that not only did he show up, he also gave Thomas a house. A house.

"A house? Your dad really goes all out." Rachel's tone was soft, and teasing, but she said it cautiously, she knew how sensitive Thomas was about his family. "How was the dinner?" Thomas turned to her and smiled. It was strange, when she had first met him he had this exact smile, he had sat there playing the piano with the most handsome honest smile. With everyday that seemed to pass, that smile dimmed more and more. It was sad.

"Tense." Thomas answered honestly, "Really tense." He turned to Rachel with a tight smile as he watched her pick up a book, it was something they were supposed to read for school. It was nice talking to her, there was no need to explain everything to the last detail. "I'm dreading school tomorrow."

Rachel gave him a knowing look before looking back at her book. "Still haven't spoken to Quinn?" Thomas didn't miss the slight anger in her voice.

"I've tried." Thomas countered with a sigh, "She just shuts me down instantly and disappears."

"I don't get it. You're one of the nicest, sometimes inconsiderate, people I know… and in every single girl in all of Lima, you chose Quinn Fabray as your target." Thomas chuckled at her words, she made him seem like such a creep, who even uses 'target' as a word for romantic interest?

"I guess I thought I could bring the best out in her." Thomas countered calmly, "I had been so isolated before I came here, so alone, Quinn was the first person our age I spoke to in years. I wasn't really thinking at the time, but then I saw the part of her that she hides and it's amazing," He chuckled humourlessly, "but it's rare. I just wish that she would talk to me, give me a _real_ reason. I thought that she enjoyed our time together."

Rachel closed the book and lay it back on her lap. She didn't really care if Thomas and Quinn got together, in fact she silently hoped they didn't, she had really enjoyed his company over the past few weeks. Their time together had nearly doubled, if not tripled, since Quinn had left Thomas and Rachel didn't want to lose him to Quinn. Quinn had Santana, Brittany, Finn still wanted her, not to mention every other guy in school wanted her. Rachel finally had one friend, was it truly a selfish thought to want to have Thomas all to herself? It was easy to make the decision to change the subject. "Where were you before you came here? If you don't mind me asking." She added quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was to make him uncomfortable.

Thomas' eyes flickered to her before he stood up. "I'm taking two beers, I'll bring two back tomorrow." He moved into her kitchen, quickly finding the beer in the fridge and opening one, he took his time going back into the living-room. He was making the decision to tell her everything, she was his closest friend after all, who else would he tell? He took a seat on the sofa, leaning forward to place the spare beer on the table, before sitting back and taking a swig of his beer. "Long story short; Four years ago my mother and I were in a car accident. She died, I didn't. For two years after that I lay in a bed in a coma. Then for the past two years, I've been learning how to walk, breath, eat and sleep all over again."

Rachel didn't know what to say, she wasn't sure whether to feel guilty for asking, sorry for him or worried for his monotone voice, but one thing was for sure, there was a whole lot of awkwardness. Rachel sat up and picked up the beer on the table, Thomas took it from her and twisted the cap off and then gave it back to her. "That's horrific." Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to say, but it was at least the truth. Somebody can't go through much worse.

"It was." Thomas countered absently. "It got depressing fast in here. Let's move onto something less… how was your day?" If there was anything Thomas had learned growing up, is that when you want to move a conversation away from you, invite the girl to talk about herself.

"It was boring. I've read a little, I sang a little and I worked out a little. I considered doing another music video today, but I didn't." Rachel had stopped doing her usual videos, she wouldn't admit it but her confidence was quickly dragged down by the horrific comments. The worst was being told to get sterilised, that had hit a sensitive nerve. She had never met her own mother, she had always wanted to have a baby when she was older, she thought she could be a great mom. Not many people agreed, in fact, other than her fathers, nobody did.

"Can I see one?" Rachel glanced at him with wide eyes, she loved singing, she loved singing around Thomas, but to let him see her in the videos that everyone mocked her for. She had concealed a lot of herself to keep him as a friend, not because he had said anything, but because she didn't want him to see her the way everybody else seemed to. She didn't have anyone in her life, her fathers rarely stayed home for longer than a week, Finn had only been interested in her for so long and then he went back to Quinn. The moronic boy still pined over the blonde cheerleader. Thomas glanced at her, hopeful eyes and a reassuring smile, she barely had time to try and stop her head from nodding.

Minutes later, as a laptop was placed in Thomas' lap, Rachel went back to her book. Her eyes repeatedly flickered to Thomas expression, he seemed to enjoy her videos, but then he clicked off the video and by his expression alone, she knew he was reading the comments. He didn't say anything, instead he placed the laptop on the coffee table and he took another swig of his beer. "I didn't know." Thomas glanced at her with something akin to shame and guilt, as though each word was his fault.

"It's not you're fault." Rachel replied calmly, a faux-confidence over came her. "They're just jealous that I'll be leaving this town and they won't." She took her own swig of beer and moved her eyes back to the book.

"I was pretty blinded by her." Thomas confessed awkwardly, "Quinn." He explained quickly. "She looks like an angel, she sounds like an angel, but her actions," He paused with a slight shake of his head, a frown marring his face. "her actions make her seem like a demon. I just don't understand. You girls are so confusing."

"You just need to learn our language." Rachel explained, "We're just like learning a new language, at first it's strange and confusing but once you put the effort and dedication in, we're easier to understand." Thomas smiled at her, glad to see one back.

"You're an idiot."

Rachel looked up with a faux-scoff, her hand touching her chest, "You hurt me." Thomas chuckled again and Rachel dropped her hand, "Besides, you're the one who said we're confusing, like _girls_ aren't people."

"That's the thing, boys and girls are raised differently, that's why we think differently." Thomas pointed out with a thoughtful look. "Girls are raised in a more sensitive way, they're told to show their feelings and express themselves in whatever way they feel necessary. They're raised like precious glass that needs perfect treatment… at least that's what normally happens. I know that isn't always the case. Whereas with boys, they're told to hide their emotions... they're raised like a blacksmiths weapon. At first it's weak, unshaped and useless, but then it gets forged into something different. With each hit and every ember, it gets stronger, it gets shaped into something better… again, that isn't always the case."

"That's a different way to look at it," Rachel began with a thoughtful look. "It's also massively tragic. Is that how you see yourself? As a forged weapon?"

Thomas looked at her with a dead look, "No. I see myself as the weapon that's forgotten about, the one that failed the most, the biggest shame of the blacksmith." Thomas confessed before looking away, "The only difference is that people do know about me and they just pretended to not remember."

After two movies, five more beers than he had originally said and some small talk about whatever was on television, and Thomas was fast asleep. He looked pretty adorable, if it weren't for the fact that Rachel knew that his position was going to make him feel sore in the morning, she would have left him. Instead she stood up, grabbed his legs and raised them onto the sofa, then she draped a blanket over him. Luckily, he was too out of it to wake up, he simply turned onto his side and snuggled up to the blanket slightly. It really was an adorable sight.

Rachel stood over him for a moment, her mind going at a million thoughts per second. Realisation was finally working it's way through her… she had feelings for him. Rachel Berry had feelings for Thomas Michaelson. It was the worst moment she had experienced in a long time. She couldn't tell him, it would make him distance himself, but could she continue on as a friend? She would have to or she might lose the only person in her life who talks to her, spends time with her and cares about her. It was annoying as it was that he cared so much about Quinn, but now, to think about having to listen about her… it seemed so much worse. Going to sleep was harder that night, because she couldn't rid herself of the thoughts in her head.

-0-

"You can sit next to Santana today." Thomas stood firm at the door before sighing. Rachel gave him a look of pity before she took her seat at the front of the room, Santana was sitting at the back, at least he didn't have to sit next to Quinn. He moved through the room, giving Quinn a hopeful look, he just wanted to know why. Why she would give up on them when they were finally getting somewhere. Laying on his bed, with her head on his chest, snuggled up together with a movie, was the best feeling in the world. He couldn't understand why she would give that up. It had nothing to do with Finn, that was for sure, that idiot had been repeatedly trying to gain her attention since they're break-up.

As he took a seat next to Santana, he gave her a tight smile, he still hadn't spent much time conversing with the cheerleader. The moment the teacher began to talk Santana turned to him. "You need to talk to Q before she gets kicked off Cheerios." Thomas didn't miss the anger hidden in the words, like this was his fault.

"I don't need to do shit." He snapped back just as forcefully, "I gave her a chance, I put my trust in her and then _she_ walked away." The teacher glared at them, before looking at Santana and then moving back to the board.

"It's not like she had a choice." Santana paled slightly at her words. Quinn had made her promise and there's a lot of things she would do to ruin one of her best friends, but there was a lot of things that were simply off-limits. Thomas turned to her with a curious look. "Shut up."

"Come on, Santana. What do you mean?" Thomas didn't care that the teacher had once again started to glare at them. Thomas knew there was a very small moment of opportunity to get her to talk. "Fine." Thomas kicked the table loudly, "What the fuck was that for, Santana?"

"Thomas, Santana to the principals office." Santana gave Thomas an indignant look, with an angry scoff she pushed her chair back and stormed out of the room. Thomas stood up calmly, moved behind their chairs and moved them both back under the table. He walked out calmly, giving Quinn a single look. It had been her choice. It was always _her_ choice. He found Santana outside the office, sitting on a chair with a scowl on her face.

"What do you mean it wasn't her choice?" Santana jumped to her feet and got straight into Thomas' face, quickly realising how Thomas was simply glancing down at her. He never was scared of her or her title. He had managed to gain everyone's respect on the football team, the only possible way of getting to him was by herself. Unfortunately, Brittany had taken a shine to him, he was off-limits.

"What the hell was that?" She pushed him slightly, barely enough force to make his foot move back.

"Santana. What, do, you, mean, she didn't have a choice? Was it her parents?" At Santana's disbelieving scoff, his attitude took a quick turn. "Was it my father?" She sat back down and crossed her arms defiantly. Thomas sat next to her, there was only one thing that he knew Santana would never give up. "If you don't tell me, I'll slushy you every single day, I'll do it in front of everyone and eventually you're oh so lovely popularity will slowly pour away. Until you're at the bottom, where Rachel Berry used to be and you'll be nobody, nothing." He turned to her with a serious look in his eyes. "I'm fed up of being in this position, so I'll ask once more. Did my father have something to do with this?"

"It was your sister." Santana had never seen Thomas look like this, so wound up, his father seemed to be something that was quite sensitive. That was something she would never forget, she might have use for it in the future. At her words, his eyes widened and his face scrunched up in complete disbelief.

"She wouldn't have said anything." Santana shrugged before standing up as Figgins waved them in. "What did Quinn say exactly?" He had to know. There was a big part of him that wanted to call Quinn a liar, but then he thought about it. The only thing that could have changed how she felt was his sister, she was the only other person in the house. "Santana, please."

"She said that your sister made her choose, you or the rest of her life being a nobody. She said that if Quinn continued to date you, your father would help her destroy Quinn and her family." Thomas nodded gratefully before walking into Figgins' Office and taking a seat.

"Sir, I would like to start with an apology. I got cramp in my leg and it hurt immensely. Santana tried to help me stand but she pressed into my cut, from the football accident, that's still quite sore and it hurt. Santana didn't know about it and before she could explain the teacher dismissed us." Santana looked at him with wide eyes, it was such a believable lie that he had only just thought of from the top of his head. Of course, she wasn't exactly grateful, she wouldn't have been in here in the first place if it weren't for him but she was impressed.

Figgins nodded calmly with a sigh. "Just don't let it happen again." He should send them both to weeks of detention, that's how he normally dealt with the kids that ended up in his office, but Thomas had that accident on the school football team. He wasn't sure what the legal consequences were, but they weren't something he wanted to deal with.

-0-

All day Thomas thought about Santana's words. It was his sister's fault. He hadn't even thought of her, he never even considered, she was supposed to have his back. He had came here to protect her and Cody, he had came to help her get her life back in track, he never thought that she would do anything to hurt him. He had tried to talk to Quinn, but she simply disappeared again and again. There were no clubs on after school and so if he was to get a chance to speak to her, he had to have faith in her feelings for him. He had left a piece of paper in Quinn's locker: **Santana told me. Auditorium after school. If you don't show, I know my chance with you is gone.** If she still cared for him like he cared for her, she would show up.

By the end of the day he was sitting on the piano stool with his fingers hovering over the keys. He didn't like singing, he was good at singing, but he didn't like it. Singing was something he shared with his mother, but the piano, that was something his grandmother had taught him. She loved when he played, she had wanted him to go professional, but he didn't want to. Instead he learned with his grandmother and on the occasional party he played for people. His grandmother could express so much with a single composition, that's what he was going to try and do. He would show Quinn how he felt and then if she was still here by the time he was finished, he would talk to her.

"What did Santana tell you?" Quinn was finally there. Her voice was filled with anger and worry. Her expression was completely impassive. Thomas let his fingers finally touch the piano keys.

"Everything." He gave her a tight smile and nodded. "Listen." His fingers moved across the piano elegantly. He tried to tell her about everything. His sadness, his depression, his happiness when he was with her, how she made him feel. The love, the love. He was in love with her. He messed a note up, it wouldn't have been noticed by the untrained ear, he hoped Quinn didn't notice.

Quinn stood in front of him, listening to the music. She wasn't sure what the message was, but the music was intense. So intense that her eyes brimmed with tears. It went from really sad, it had made her feel sad for him, but then it had changed. It got darker but warmer. It was like he was broken, but held more hope. Each note seemed to be screaming at her. When it finally finished Thomas didn't look up at her for a little while. He was hesitating, as though if he looked up she would be gone. If either of them were looking, they might have seen Rachel sneak out of the auditorium.

When he finally did look up, he seemed to be exploring her very soul through her eyes. He stood up silently and started to walk up to her cautiously, as though she was his prey and if he made the slightest movement or noise, she would be scared away. She wasn't going anywhere. Once he finally reached her, he reached out with his left hand and left it on her waist, but his right hand moved to her cheek. His thumb wiped away a burning tear. "My sister can't do anything. My father won't do anything." His head leaned onto hers, his eyes making direct contact with hers. "My father will do as I say."

"I'm sorry." Quinn almost sobbed as more tears flooded over her cheeks. "I've wanted to tell you since the second she said it to me, but I was so scared about what she would do. She said that she would destroy my future, and I need to get out of this town. I need to get away from my parents." She paused at her words. She couldn't tell him, she needed to keep it a secret.

"You've got nothing to apologise for." He pulled her into a tight hug, a scowl scorched his face menacingly. "This was my sister's fault," He moved back slightly. "but Quinn, we do need to talk about us."

"I didn't mean what I said about Finn, he doesn't mean anything to me." So much honesty and hope filled her voice, "I just said that because then I would be the bad guy and you would just get over me." Thomas nodded his head to the edge of the stage, where he moved and took a seat. Quinn sat on the edge but rather than letting her legs swing, she sat on the side and simply pulled her knees to her chest.

"So you want to give us a real shot?"

"I always did." She interrupted smoothly and calmly, she had never wanted to give him up. She knew he was too good for her, she thought she only had one chance, if she was given another chance she would snatch it up in a second. "I just couldn't lose my future for you."

"I get that. I do. I wouldn't have wanted you to." It was the truth, Thomas wanted a lot of things, but to ruin someone's life wasn't one of them. "I just don't think I can go back to how we were before. I don't think that I could pretend that you aren't a bully and I can't pretend to not know the things I know. Such as the pornographic drawings and the comments on Rachel's songs. I can not believe that you told her to get sterilised."

Quinn looked down in shame. "I understand. I'll fix it, I'll do whatever you thinks best."

"It's not about what I think you should do. It's about what you think you should do, because you can't fix what you did. You can only try to make it better." Thomas explained calmly, "I want us to be together, Quinn. God, you have no idea how much I want to be with you, but she's my best friend and I won't watch her be hurt any more."

"Okay." Quinn took Thomas' hand and squeezed lightly. "I'll apologise, I'll get rid of the drawings, I'll make sure the cruel comments stop."

"Promise?" Thomas put his hand in the air, his hand squeezed into a ball, his pinky finger pointing at her. She smiled at him and wrapped her pinky finger around his, he didn't let go. "Quinn, you need to understand what this means. Cody says you can't break a pinky promise, because the consequences are bad. Stop being a bully and I'll stand by your side for as long as you'll allow, but if you continue, I'll be gone in a blink."

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	12. The Shameful Secret

The only audible sound was the leaves rustling as the gentle breeze passed through them. After two hours of sitting on the stage and simply enjoying one another's company, Thomas told Quinn he would drive her home. It felt like a simple offer, until their conversation died down and they were both in a tiny confined space; only one thing lingered on both of their minds: Rachel Berry.

It shouldn't seem so daunting, Rachel was Thomas' best friend, surely she would respect that Thomas wants to be with Quinn. Except it wasn't quite that simple and Thomas knew it. Quinn was cruel, for lack of a better word, to Rachel. He would never expect her to accept Quinn, nor would he expect her to respect his decision to date Quinn. Thomas only hoped that Rachel didn't make him choose between herself and Quinn. Thomas had said once, 'the person who made me choose, is the person I would say goodbye to'. Only now did he realise it wasn't such an easy situation. He wasn't sure who he would choose.

Quinn on the other hand was on a much more stressful path. There was a lot of reasons why she targeted Rachel, the simplest was because she never fought back, the more complex reason was her father. Her father was quite old fashioned- in the gays are wrong -kind of way. When she first threw a slushy in Rachel's face, it had been an accident; but then she had saw, for the slightest moment, a look of pride on her father's face. The more often he came home drunk, the more she wanted to attack Rachel, just to have that moment with her father. As his drunken nights out became more and more regular, as his aggression worsened, her need for that moment became stronger. Unfortunately, it became a habit. Sometimes she didn't even mean to attack Rachel, but it was already too late by the time it had came out of her mouth. It's not like she could've apologised… even if she had wanted to on occasion. She was looking for a reason for her father to like her again, if he heard that his daughter apologised to the 'faggot's daughter'; well, she wasn't sure what his response would be. It definitely wouldn't be good. Just to be clear, it didn't make her feel good about herself when she hurt Rachel, but it did, even the smallest amount of time, allow her some time with her daddy. The man her father used to be. Was it an acceptable excuse? No. The sad, but honest truth, was that if it weren't for Thomas she would never have even considered leaving Rachel alone.

That led her thoughts to a whole more complex problem. Thomas Michaelson; the boy making her nights a lot more restless. At some point, the way that Thomas looked at her meant more to her, than the way her father looked at her. Perhaps it was the, very tragic, fact that her father wasn't _her father_ any more. Russell Fabray was the shell of the man she once loved with all of her heart, the man she would defend to her dying breath, the man that used to took her into bed with a kiss to the head. That man was long gone. The reason she cared what Thomas thought of her was obvious, she was in love with him. It was that simple. He made her feel wanted. He made her feel better. He made her better. When Thomas was around she was at her best. That's how he looked at her, like he would never ask her to change, like no matter what he would never leave her. Until she messed it up. Until she made a snarly comment or she purposely tried to hurt someone. Then he looked at her with disappointment, like she had betrayed him, like her actions had been aimed at him. It made her want to cry like a little girl curled up under her blanket. She never wanted to see that look in his eyes ever again. Quinn would do _anything_ to never see that look again.

Thomas broke the silence as they pulled up outside Quinn's house. "I want to kiss you so bad right now," Thomas commented absently with a frown. "but I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't kiss you until you apologised to Rachel." It was taking everything in him, every bit of strength, every bit of will. His body was quite literally fighting to defy his mind.

Quinn raised an eyebrow with a smile. This is what she liked about Thomas, he didn't care how forward he was, he was just honest. "I will." She turned to him and took his hand. "I could probably convince my mom to set another seat for dinner?" She could definitely convince her mother, and her father didn't drink until late on Mondays. Having dinner with Thomas there guaranteed a sober, much preferable Russell. The only dinner Quinn had actually, slightly, enjoyed was with Thomas months ago.

Thomas had a lot of things to do. A lot. Not one of them was something he wanted to do. The first being to explain everything to Rachel, the second was his sister. Just thinking about Lily made his heart speed up excessively. "Sure." Procrastination was never a good thing, but it always felt wonderful.

Thomas climbed out of the car, a deep sigh left his mouth as he looked at the overly priced car. It looked ridiculous in the suburban like area. "You never told me how you got the car." Quinn's intrigued voice brought him back to reality. He waited until she pulled out her keys before he answered.

"My dad." She raised an eyebrow with an annoyed look. Thomas knew how annoyed she got when somebody didn't give her all of the information. "My father and I had dinner together yesterday, he gave me the car and the keys to an old family home. The second I get my actual car, this is going right back where I found it." Quinn shook her head with an amused look. "What?"

"Nothing." Quinn answer quickly, though the smile never left her face. Then she called out for her parents. "Mom? Dad?" Silence echoed eerily throughout the house. Quinn looked back at him as she walked up the stairs. "Guess they're not in."

"What are you doing?" Thomas questioned urgently. There was no way he was following her up the stairs. He promised himself he wouldn't kiss her until she apologised to Rachel, if he followed her upstairs to her bedroom, there was no way he would be able to not kiss her.

"Going to my room?" She glanced at him with a confused, questioning glance. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Thomas' hands found their way into his jeans pockets as he shook his head. "No. Nope." He hadn't touched her arm, hadn't put his hand through her hair, he hadn't even kissed her in three weeks. After those making out sessions they had for a week, he knew deep down that the first chance he got he would kiss her. Breaking a promise that you made to yourself isn't _that_ bad; Right? His feet dragged him into her room.

As though his mind had read his subconscious desire, he grabbed her arm and pushed her against the door. His hands quickly found her waist, the moment the shock dissipated, Quinn kissed back. The moment Thomas gained some strength back he pulled back. "Sorry." His head leaned against hers.

Quinn glanced up through her eyelashes, a cocky smirk plastered across her face. "You never need to ask for forgiveness when you kiss that good… plus, I am pretty irresistible."

Thomas chuckled lightly, "You're incorrigible is what you are."

Quinn's smirk vanished as she bit her bottom lip, "You know you did just break your promise," She paused with a coy smile, "might as well make it worth it." She pulled him down by his top until their lips touched again. His hand moved to the back of her head. It wasn't exactly like fireworks and everything a perfect kiss was considered to be, but it was pretty damn close. The second she got her chance she pushed him onto her bed. The moment she was laying on top of him she paused. She missed this, the moments when nothing else mattered, as long as they were together. The next kiss _was_ slow, gentle and sweet. As was the next and the one after that. It was about reminding herself that he was there again and that he wasn't going anywhere. She would apologise to Rachel a million times if that's what it took. Hell, she'd slushy herself… luckily, Rachel wasn't that low.

To Quinn's dismay, after a seemingly quick fifteen minutes, Thomas had made them stop and dragged her downstairs. It was reaching seven in the evening and her parents still weren't home. Which most likely meant that her father had in fact gone out drinking, and her mother was trying to convince him to come home, or she had got pulled into the drink with him. Wouldn't have been the first time.

"Maybe you should just head home. I don't know when they'll be back." Quinn really didn't want Thomas to be here when her father returned. She didn't want to know him what her father was like. She wasn't sure how he would react.

"What? No way am I leaving you here alone." The front door slammed shut viciously, the strength should have made the wall shatter. Thomas glanced at Quinn and frowned as he stood up.

"Tom." Thomas ignored Quinn's urgent, hopeful tone, but paused as he turned the corner. Judy had her hand glued to her cheek, her eyes held a defeated look, a look Thomas had seen more than once in his life. There wasn't the slightest ounce of fight left in her. Russell stood there screaming at her, Thomas couldn't hear anything. As Russell hand swung back, Thomas' instincts kicked in and he caught Russell's arm mid-swung, Thomas' eyes instantly flickered to Quinn. There she stood, the infamous head bitch, the impassive fearless leader. This wasn't the first time.

"Who do you think you are?" Russell turned to him, at first in shock, but the older man quickly grew more aggressive. The smell of alcohol came off Russell in waves, bile rose to Thomas' throat quickly. "You are in _my_ house and you dare interfere with _my_ business!" The fact that he kept emphasising the 'my' didn't pass Thomas. He dropped the older man's arm and took a step back.

"Mr Fabray, you have had a lot to drink, perhaps you should get some sleep." Thomas' hands were already tensed into tight fists, the adrenaline was rushing through his blood, he wanted nothing more than to hit the man in front of him. He wasn't sure how he didn't see it before, the look in Russell's eyes. The one you see in a coward. That's what a bully is; a coward.

Judy moved to touch Russell's arm, but he simply shrugged it off with a scoff. "Get the fuck out of my house." He turned and stumbled into into his office.

Thomas turned to Judy. "Mrs Fabray, your daughter is going to be spending the night at my house away from that man. Would you care to join?" There was simply no way that Quinn was staying in this house. Thomas had came to protect his family from a man just like that one, he wasn't going to walk away from this house without the girl he loved. He wanted her safe, and if it came to it, he would annihilate Russell Fabray to do just that… if necessary.

Judy couldn't believe what she had heard. Her daughter wasn't going anywhere… but then she looked at her Quinne. Judy instantly looked straight through the impassive guard, instead finding fear and worry. It was her fault, it was _her fault_. She should have been a better wife, a better daughter. She should have been better. "I should make sure my husband gets to bed safely." If the boy was going to take her little girl away from the following few hours of what she knew was going to be hell, then she wasn't going to stop him. Someone had to be strong enough to save her baby girl. Judy only wished that _she_ could be stronger, so that it could have been her. It should be her.

Thomas held his hand out to Quinn. Quinn hesitated as she glanced away from him. "What about your sister?" Thomas shrugged as he took her hand and pulled her from the house.

Once they were at his car he turned to her. "I can't believe I have to keep this car for another day." Quinn climbed into the car silently. She wasn't sure why Thomas wasn't asking questions, but she was glad he let her have a moment to collect herself. "And we're not going to my sister's house."

-0-

The fact that after twenty-five minutes they drove past a sign that said; 'leaving Lima' finally made her interrupt the silence. "Are you planning on kidnapping me?" Thomas started to laugh at her words, it didn't exactly make her feel better. "That's not helping."

They took a turn, "I'm bringing you to my house, the one that my father gave me," he added calmly before pulling up in front of the house.

Quinn stared at the building in front of her, it must have cost a fortune. A house, in the middle of nowhere, it still didn't fill her with confidence. No matter how warm and inviting it looked. "So when you said he gave you keys to your family home, you

actually meant the gave you a house."

Thomas drove the car into the garage and quickly climbed out. Quinn was already standing in the living-room with a look of awe. "Please don't make a big deal over it. I'm not my father, Quinn. When I look around I see my mother, I don't see money."

"I keep learning things tonight." Quinn asserted honestly. "Where is your mom? You talk about her a lot, but only your father has came to see you." The pained face made Quinn wince internally.

"A few years ago my mom and I were in a car accident. I was saved, she wasn't." Quinn stood still awkwardly nodding her head slowly with wide eyes. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know." Thomas brought Quinn upstairs into one of the guest rooms. Quinn hugged Thomas suddenly, it was strange for both of them. Neither had initiated or participated in a real hug in years. "Do you want to talk about it?" Thomas felt her head shake slightly before something damp touched his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, and applied enough pressure until he felt it was enough to make her feel safe. "Why don't you go and take a shower and I'll order some take out?"

Quinn pulled back slightly, just as she moved to wipe away the tears burning her cheeks, Thomas's thumb beat her to it. As he wiped the tears away, he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. Quinn looked up through her eyelashes and smiled tightly. "Thank you."

Thomas shook his head forcefully. "Don't thank me, Quinn. I love you, I take care of the people I love. Sometimes even the strongest people have a moment of weakness." He paused as he moved into his room, "You took care of me for a week, I can give you a single night without question." He opened his wardrobe and got a large top and some sweatpants out of his cupboard. "I know they'll be a little big, but at least you'll have something to wear."

Quinn flashed him an awkward smile before turning around, moving back into the guest room and shutting the door. Thomas moved back downstairs to call for some take out.

As though she was waiting for the food, Quinn walked down the stairs just as the food got there. Thomas paid the delivery man, with a strong tip for the trip, and turned with a slight nudge to the front door. What he saw behind him nearly gave him an aneurysm, Quinn had gotten dressed in the top she was given, _just the top_.

"I'm so hungry." She walked up to him, took the food and planted a kiss on his cheek. It took him a moment to realise he wasn't dreaming, he quickly followed her into the kitchen. She was already eating a piece of pizza, she slid him the box with a smile.

"You seem happier." Thomas picked up a piece and took a cautious bite out of it. He wasn't a fan of pizza, well, not take out pizza anyway. Quinn shrugged at him before turning to the fridge, taking out some apple juice and filling two perfectly clear glasses.

"Thanks."

Quinn managed to devour three pieces of pizza before drinking her apple juice. "I'm full." Thomas shook his head with a frown as he pointed to the box.

"You've barely eaten."

"I have." Quinn argued before taking a step towards the stairs. "You can just make me some bacon in the morning to make up for it." Thomas nodded in defeat before tossing the box onto the counter side. It was still pretty early, it was nearly half eight, Thomas was still wide awake with nothing to do. He could watch a movie with Quinn.

He climbed the stairs and found Quinn sitting on his bed, "You like wolves?" Thomas nodded with a smile as he leaned against his door frame, glad that he had pretty big tops, really _really_ glad. Quinn caught sight of a photo on his bedside table. It was of a woman, she looked like she was barely in her early-thirties, long blonde curly hair, strong, warm emerald eyes. "Is this your mom? She was beautiful."

"It is, and she was." Thomas moved over to her and took a seat before taking the photo from her hands. "She gave this to me on my seventh birthday. She said, 'I know you don't want me to go, Tom Tom, but for as long as this photo is sitting on your bedside table, I'll be watching over you'. I guess I should probably move it." Thomas opened the drawers and placed the photo inside it. "I don't want her to see me right now." Quinn had already moved onto the family photo, it reminded her of the portrait on her fireplace at home. Fake smiles and cold eyes. It was sad. Thomas placed that one in his drawer too.

"I was thinking that we could watch a movie, though we may have a problem with finding a television." The sarcasm flooded her voice as she spoke. "No but seriously I haven't seen a single DVD in this house." Thomas smiled as his face pinked slightly, his hands moved to the bottom of the bedside table, Peter Pan sat there for him. His father made sure everything was in it's place. "Peter Pan,"

"I'm going to stop you right there." Thomas cut in smoothly as he stood and inserted the disc into the side of the TV. "If you are going to be my girlfriend, you're going to have to pretend to like a few things, Peter Pan will be one of those things. I will get rid of you if you insult this movie in any way.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at his words but smiled at his strong passion for the movie, if he'd defend a movie like that, how would he defend somebody he cared about? That's got to make somebody feel safe. "I was going to say that I've never seen it, but I do think that fairy is cute."

"Sure." Thomas countered calmly before walking into the en-suite bathroom and getting changed into some pyjamas. When he moved back into his room, the light was off, the door was shut and Quinn was under his blanket. "You look pretty snug right now."

Quinn threw the blanket off with a slight groan as she moved over. "I'll be much more comfortable once you're in bed." Thomas wasn't going to be asked twice. He climbed onto the bed and pulled the blanket back over himself. Quinn moved back next to him, his arm was instantly around her shoulder. She smiled up at Thomas. "I missed this."

Thomas leaned down and kissed her head. "Me too." He picked up the controller and pressed play. "Now shut up and watch the movie." Quinn made the mistake of giggling. He literally paused the movie until the second she stopped, with a strong threat to kick her out of his room.

"… I always wanted to go to Neverland as a kid, escape to a place where I felt wanted, a..." Thomas glanced at Quinn, who was fast asleep on her side. Normally he would lecture someone who fell asleep while watching Peter Pan with him, his mother had sat still for an hour once as Thomas lectured her, but he couldn't help but smile at Quinn. She looked so innocent, so comfortable and safe, her guard was completely down. That must have been a big step. To let her guard down and trust him to look after her. He tried to climb out of bed, to move into a guest room so that Quinn could have some privacy, but she woke up.

"Stay." She had the most hopeful, scared look in her eyes. "Please." Thomas nodded as he moved back to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her as close as he could.

"I'm not going anywhere." Quinn nodded slightly as she closed her eyes, Thomas kissed her head. He lay there for half an hour, playing with her hair until he knew for sure that she was asleep. "I love you, Quinne." He sighed as he closed his eyes, "I love you."

* * *

 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	13. Meaningful Conversations

Thomas only woke up once throughout the night and to his surprise it wasn't because of a nightmare. It was the heat that got to him and there was a pretty simple solution to dealing with that. He turned the air conditioning on and removed his top. The moment his head lay back on his pillow he was fast asleep again. It was his first night in years without a nightmare. He wasn't sure whether it was the sleeping pills that Dr Samuels gave him or the angelic blonde in his bed.

Thomas woke up for good early the next morning. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Quinn. Her hair was messy and sprawled out across the pillow; there wasn't a touch of make-up on her face and yet Thomas still thought she looked flawless. As much as he wanted to lay there and study her, his thoughts quickly raced to the night before. He still had no idea what he was going to do about Russell but there was absolutely no way she was returning to that house while that man continued to reside there. He only hoped that she would agree.

Just looking at her right now made him want to hide her from the world. He would do anything to protect her, however, he was suddenly in a much tougher position. If Rachel declined Quinn's apology he would be completely screwed. There was no way that he was going to abandon Quinn now, not when she so obviously needed someone to be there for her. At the same time he didn't want Rachel, someone who had been there for him over the past few months, to think that he was choosing Quinn over her. If luck was on his side maybe they might at least crash onto some kind of common ground… if luck wanted to really help him it could make both girls want to become friends. That would take a bloody miracle.

"What are you thinking about?" Quinn's voice was filled with such curiosity and happiness that a smile pulled at Thomas' lips. Her eyes opened with her own pleasant smile and for the first time since Thomas had known Quinn Fabray there wasn't a the slightest sign of her usually guarded self. There was just an innocent, adorable girl; it was truly the definition of beauty.

"That, if I knew you were this beautiful when you first woke up, I would haven gotten you in bed a long time ago."

A blush covered Quinn's cheeks as her smile intensified. She raised an eyebrow at his words, "Oh? You think you could have?"

Thomas gently moved a piece of hair out of his way so he could caress Quinn's cheek, as he felt her lean into it, he knew his words hadn't actually offended her. "Perhaps not," Thomas confessed with a quiet whisper, "but I would have tried so much harder."

"Really?" It amazed Quinn how amazing and special he could make her feel with such simple words. It was like every insult that had ever been used against her vanished into thin air.

"Hell yes. The first time I ever saw you I thought ever higher power was finally doing something good for me." Thomas revealed with a thoughtful smile, "I honestly thought that you were an angel sent down from the heavens."

Quinn giggled quietly out of embarrassment. "Stop it." If she was being honest with herself, she could sit there for days and listen his compliments.

"Fine." Thomas conceded quickly as he leant over to kiss her. He hovered in front of her face, his eyes made direct contact with hers, Quinn could almost feel him searching her soul. "I just want you to know how special I think you are." Thomas wished he didn't need to ruin such a perfect moment but they did have school coming and he had a lot he needed to talk about.

Quinn bit her lips as a confidence washed over her that she hadn't felt in a long time. She kissed him forcefully, she wanted him to know how much _he_ mattered to _her_ , every ounce of passion within her poured through her kiss. She pulled back with a broad pleased smile before kissing him softly again on the lips. She moved back and cuddled into his arms, his arm wrapped around her gently, she hadn't felt this safe since she was a little girl on her daddies lap. "I," She really wanted to say the three precious words but she was scared. Anyone she had ever said 'I love you' to has either left her or disappointed her. "am really looking forward to breakfast." She was an idiot, nobody had to tell her that, she knew Thomas wouldn't leave her. He told her as much. All she had to do was give a deserving apology to Rachel and limit her bullying to as little as possible. It wouldn't be that hard… hopefully.

"And I will make you whatever you want after we talk." Quinn's smile quickly turned into a frown at his serious voice, she nodded as a gesture for him to continue. "Firstly, I just wanted to say that I thought you could, probably, maybe, apologise to Rachel before school. That way you don't have to do it in front of everyone which saves you the embarrassment." Rachel deserved an official apology but Thomas was barely holding onto the hope of getting Quinn to apologise in the first place, if he could help her feel more secure with the task, then it would have a higher possibility of actually happening.

Quinn nodded as she bit her lip nervously. What could she possibly say that would earn forgiveness? She had been nothing but an ignorant bitch to Rachel, she had not only said but also did things to intentionally hurt her, she didn't deserve an apology. "I can do that." Her voice expressed her worry about apologising so audibly that it would have been impossible for Thomas to miss it.

"I know that apologising to someone can seem quite daunting and tantalising," Quinn scoffed in disbelief, Thomas' eyes widened in surprise, "but when someone gives you their forgiveness it can make you feel good."

"You don't know," Quinn looked up at him through her eyelashes, Thomas raised at eyebrow at her words. "you don't. Thomas Michaelson apologising? Hell would have to freeze over before you did something wrong that finished with an apology."

"Quinn, I'm no saint." Thomas insisted with an amused smile, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"Like?"

Thomas looked at her before sighing, he wasn't a saint, everyone does something that requires an apology after. "Once when I was younger I nearly cut off someone's finger with a saw." Quinn's eyes widened in shock, Thomas quickly continued to assure her he wasn't a psychopath. "It was an accident but he was the principal's son so I had to apologise."

"That doesn't count, you didn't actually mean to hurt him." Quinn shook her head at his frown, "It wasn't supposed to be insulting."

"I'm not a saint, love." That was something that Quinn was starting to enjoy, she loved that he called her 'love' instead of 'babe', she hated being called babe. There was a look of regret and shame written deep within his eyes, Quinn hated it. She hated that something could make him feel that.

"Maybe not," Quinn conceded hesitantly as she snuggled into him again. "but you're my hero." Her voice was barely louder than a quiet mumble but Thomas heard her. "You helped me last night and instead of interrogating me, you've stayed away from talking about it. You show me that I can be more than a cold, heartless cheerleader. You make me want to be more than that."

Silence loomed over her. Just as she was about to look up, she felt him kiss her head as his arms tightened around her. "Well things got deep in here pretty quickly." Thomas chuckled with a hint of a teasing tone. " _You are_ more than that Quinn. In fact, I once compared you to a fallen angel; a graceful creature that fell in a moment of weakness _and_ if they were given just one more chance they would rise again. Stronger and wiser. I honestly think that with a little help, if you'll let me, I can help you prove to everyone that you are so much more than the cold and fearless cheerleader that they believe you to be."

Quinn moved her face into his chest. "You think too highly of me."

"No. You think too lowly of yourself." Thomas pointed out with a deep sigh, "That being said we do need to talk about yesterday."

"I know." Thomas waited for Quinn to move from her position but by the looks of it she wasn't planning on moving.

"Can you look at me please?" Quinn shook her head silently. "Fine. I'll ask you some closed questions and you can answer with head gestures."

"Was that the first time your father returned drunk?" Thomas already knew that yesterday wasn't the first time the older man had returned drunk, he just wanted to see if Quinn would be honest about it.

As excepted she shook her head, Thomas rubbed her back gently, "Has he ever hurt your mom before?"

Quinn moved away from him slightly, still not quite looking at him, her finger traced his scars cautiously. He must have been through so much pain but to think that his mother had also died during the accident was horrific. He would think so poorly of her for not protecting her mother. She felt her eyes brim with tears, "Yes."

"Has he hurt you?" As the words floated through the air Quinn felt Thomas' hands tense up into balls behind her back.

"No." It was the truth, her father had never once laid a finger on her. "He's said some pretty horrible things to me but he's never actually hit me." On instinct she tried to defend her father, "He wasn't always that way. That night when you ate dinner at my house reminded me of my father, _my real father._ There was a time when he wouldn't even touch alcohol, 'it's the devil's drink, Quinne' he would say. Then one day he came home drunk and then again _and again._ Each time his aggression got worse and worse."

"That's no excuse, Quinn." There was no patronising tone or angry voice, there was no frown or scowl, there was no emotion on his face. This wasn't the reaction she had expected from him.

"I know," Quinn assured Thomas quickly. She did know that there wasn't a single reason that would validate her father's behaviour, "but there's nothing I can do about it."

"Now there is." Thomas countered smoothly, if he had to he would kill Russell to protect her. "You could move in here. I don't know if you noticed but I have four guest rooms." Quinn stared at him with a blank expression, there was no way he was being serious, "At least until I can help you figure out a way to convince him to stop drinking."

"Tom, I can't just move in with you. We're teenagers and we've barely been dating for longer than a week and that includes a long three week gap."

"This isn't about moving in with _me_ , Quinn." Thomas pointed out calmly, this was about keeping her safe, this was about keeping that man away from Quinn before he made the fatal mistake of harming her. "This is about you living in a safe place, a place where you don't need to worry about him coming back drunk, a place where he couldn't hurt you."

"He wouldn't hit me." Quinn snapped harshly. She knew he meant well but she really didn't want to think about it and she really didn't want such a perfect morning ruined because of her father. "My mom wouldn't let him. She would leave him before she allowed him to do that."

"So you're just going to stay there?" Thomas asked calmly, his blood was boiling furiously, "You're just going to wait until he finally hit's rock bottom and hits you?"

"And you're going to ruin what was the most perfect morning with a stupid argument?" The two glared at one another as a fat tension settled around them. She could see that he was upset by her decision, she could feel the heat of his anger flow from him in waves and yet he looked at her with nothing more then calmness.

"Quinn, the last person who hurt somebody I loved was hospitalised. I can't do that to your father because I know you would never forgive me for it but I won't sit back idly while the fear of you being hurt tortures me."

"You love me?" Quinn's eyes widened in shock, she had no idea what to say, no idea how to react. It was easy to tell Finn that she loved him because their whole relationship was a sham from the beginning but to hear Thomas say it was completely different. It was as though all of her senses failed at the same time and her brain seemed to shut down, she didn't hear a word after he said 'I loved'.

Thomas sighed with an audible groan. "It's not exactly how I wanted to tell you for the first time," Thomas admitted honestly, "but yes, Quinn Fabray. I do love you." He didn't exactly expect her to say it back, he really hoped she would, but he didn't expect her to.

"How exactly did you want to tell me?" Quinn asked with a curious yet teasing tone, she couldn't believe that he could just come out and say it. There was such confidence to his words, he didn't falter or hesitate the slightest, he just said it.

Thomas sighed with a frown, he shook his head warningly, "Don't change the subject."

Quinn groaned to express her frustration, "Don't ruin the morning we've had." This one single morning would be something she would remember for the rest of her life and she wanted it to continue to be perfect. "I'm finishing this discussion _right, now._ If my father ever returns to the house drunk and it makes me feel weary, uncomfortable or unsafe, I'll call you straight away to come and pick me up."

"Okay."

"Okay." Quinn repeated as she once again cuddled against him, nobody, especially her father, was taking this morning away from her. "So, paint me a picture, how did you want to tell me?"

Thomas smiled at her charmingly, "I don't know… It would start with a helicopter ride to New York and then we would take my families private jet to Hawaii. We would go for a walk along the shore of one of the most exquisite beaches, our skin would feel the warmth of the sun as it rose just above the horizon. Just as you begin to get suspicious of my actions, we would arrive at this beautiful tiki bar that would just happen to be playing some slow music. I would take your hand and ask you to dance. As the song finished I would look into your eyes and tell you that I love you."

Quinn's eyes were widened in shock as she imagined it, he really didn't do something half-hearted, he just went all out. Can you imagine how he would propose? "I can just forget that you slipped up." Quinn commented absently with a dreamy smile.

"Nope." Thomas chuckled with an amused smile, "it's too late for that now."

"I really want to go to Hawaii and go for a romantic walk across the beach though." Quinn complained with a pout, "You owe me a romantic date."

Thomas nodded in agreement, "I'll think something up, love." It might seem like a strange thought but Quinn really wanted to take a photo of them both. Just in case she ever did, somehow, forget this morning. She dived off the bed to retrieve her phone.

"What're you doing?" The damn girl nearly gave Thomas whiplash at the speed she pulled away from him before diving back onto the bed again. Then his eyes caught her phone. "You're not taking a photo."

Quinn pouted sadly, "Why not?"

"I don't have a top on." Quinn knew it had nothing to do with his top, although from the way that the blanket was currently positioned he did look naked, she even knew it had nothing to do with his scars. The whole school had pretty much seen him without his top on, he wasn't all that shy or embarrassed about his scars… or unintentionally showing his strong defined abs.

"Please, I won't let anyone see it, it'll be for my own benefit." Thomas thought about it for a minute before sighing, there was no way he was denying that pout or those hopeful hazel eyes.

"Fine." She lay on her back and leant back into his arm, she took a photo quickly before he could change his mind. There was a problem, she could deal with her hair being insanely messy but she would not let Thomas get away with not smiling, he would smile.

"Smile or I won't kiss you for the rest of the week." Was she okay with using extortion as a means to retrieve a smile from him? Yes, yes she was and she was beyond happy with the photo she ended up with. So happy that it quickly became her lock screen.

"I thought you said it was for your personal benefit?" Thomas asked with a faux-betrayed frown. "You lied to me."

"No I didn't. No one's going to see it but me."

"It's going to take some convincing to make me believe that." Thomas commented huskily, Quinn looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"Oh really?"

Thomas nodded as he leant down to kiss her, she moved away from him teasingly. "You know, I think you forgot something about me."

Quinn raised an eyebrow with a mixture of curiosity and defiance. "What's that?" Thomas pointed to his bedside table with a nod, there her phone lay. He was way too good at doing things like that, it was literally in her hand the whole time, she had no idea how he had managed to do it. "How?"

"I'm not telling you." Thomas declared with a sense of power but once Quinn leant up and kissed him his mind quickly became fuzzy. "It's all" She didn't seem all that interested to be honest, "about," She just wouldn't let him speak as she kissed him slightly more forcefully, it was starting to become frustrating, "sleight of hand." He rushed quickly, he smiled at his success and then with some kind of magical strength she flipped them over so that she straddled him. "I'm going to shut up now."

Quinn smiled as he leant down again, "Good."

-0-

It was a good job Thomas had woken up so early in the morning because after a very intense make-out session, fifteen minutes of Quinn searching through some of Thomas' clothes for something that she could wear until she could change into her spare uniform at school, two very cold, very separate showers and a long twenty minutes cooking and eating breakfast, they only had forty-five minutes to get to school and it was going to take at least twenty minutes to get back into town.

That brought them here, Rachel Berry's house, so that Quinn could attempt to apologise. Thomas pulled out his pocket watch, "You have approximately eight minutes to apologise, think you can do it?"

"No." Quinn muttered quietly, her arms folded nervously. "But I know how much this means to you, so I'm going to try."

Thomas leant over to kiss her, "Thank you. I was thinking that maybe I would give you a few minutes alone, I'll go and grab my car from my sisters and then I'll grab you both for school."

Quinn shook her head quickly, "I thought you were coming in with me?" There was no way Rachel would forgive her without Thomas' presence. It did mean that she could have a real, honest conversation with Rachel. "Never mind, you're right, I should do this alone."

"If I'm late it's because I've been arrested for homicide," Thomas commented absently, he really hoped that Lily wasn't at home, he didn't even want to look at her. That being said he did want to ask if he could take Cody out for an afternoon, he already missed him, he also needed to make sure Alexander wasn't around. Quinn gave him a questioning look as she opened the car door, "my sister might be at home." Thomas elaborated with a tense tone, "I have no idea what I'm going to say to her."

"I better go and apologise before it's too late." Thomas nodded in agreement, the second she climbed out of the car and shut the door, he reversed out of the drive and continued in the direction of his sister's house.

Quinn glared at Rachel's door, this was it, the moment she was dreading. She could always just turn around and walk to school. Thomas wouldn't exactly be happy with her but he would understand. She was a coward. The problem was that Thomas had made her feel so special, strong and significant all morning that she didn't want to take the cowards way out now. Instead she moved to her door and tapped quietly, she waited nervously, it took fifty-two seconds for Rachel to open the door.

To say that Rachel was shocked by Quinn's appearance at her house was an understatement. She already knew that it had something to do with Thomas, there's no other reason why Quinn Fabray would be knocking on her door. Unless she was planning an elaborate prank, attack or she was going to warn Rachel to back off from Thomas. Either way, Rachel knew that Quinn being at her house was not a good thing.

"Hi, Rachel." Rachel's shock doubled at hearing her name come from Quinn's mouth, it was something Quinn had never said before, Rachel pinched her arm. "I guess I deserved that."

Quinn knew that this wasn't going to be an easy feat but she didn't realise just how hard it would be until now. "Quinn, what do you want?" Quinn looked away from Rachel with a sigh.

"To apologise," Rachel was pretty sure minutes ago that she was still asleep, this only confirmed it, besides why would Quinn be wearing clothes that Rachel had seen him wearing on more than one occasion? There was no way Quinn would wear a red and black flannel chequered shirt, that was humongous on her, never mind the dark jogging bottoms. It actually looked like something directly out of Thomas' wardrobe. "but I'm not stupid enough to think that would be enough. I've said some horrifying things to you and I've cause you a lot of pain and grief,"

"Quinn," Rachel interrupted with a guarded tone, she was all for letting this play out but she needed her to express herself too. "why are you doing this?"

"because you're the one person who has been by Thomas' side throughout all of this, I mean Puck was too but I'm pretty sure that he only helped Thomas do things that I don't even want think about not to mention how I heard him talking to Thomas about going to that stupid fight club _again,"_ Quinn was quickly spiralling out of control as she babbled away nervously, she's never actually apologised to someone before.

"Quinn, all I ever asked was to be your friend or at least for you to stop the insults and the pornographic pictures on the bathroom walls." Quinn's eyes flickered to the floor as she reddened in embarrassment.

"You knew that was me?"

"Everyone knew it was you." Rachel snapped unexpectedly, "Now here's the thing, I know that you're here because of Thomas, I know that he's the reason you're apologising." Rachel hadn't stopped thinking about what she saw yesterday in the auditorium. It was true that she had some sort of crush on Thomas and she wished that Thomas had some kind of mutual feelings back but that wasn't the case. The moment he started to play the piano for Quinn, each note was drowned in emotion, she realised then that she didn't have a chance with Thomas. He was in love with Quinn and nothing she did would change that. No matter how hard she tried.

Even if she did manage to convince Thomas that he shouldn't date Quinn, she would only be causing her best friend to suffer. That wasn't fair, that wasn't what a best friend did. A best friend sucked it up, they pushed their own feelings out of the way so that their best friend could be happy.

Rachel stared at Quinn with a confident stance, "I accept your apology but, I have some demands." Quinn groaned out of frustration, she should have known Rachel would spin this in her favour, she nodded in gesture for Rachel to continue. "Number one: Thomas' lunch continues to be eaten in the auditorium unless he decides otherwise and you _can't_ try to convince him otherwise." That was a pretty easy demand to give into, Thomas had said since they first started to _hang out_ that his lunch time belonged to Rachel because he wouldn't eat with a bunch of fake bullies, he never even tried to hide it. So this demand wasn't even something she could decline.

"Number two: After school on Wednesdays, Thomas and I will continue spending at least three hours alone while we study, there will be no interference." What was a single afternoon away from Thomas? It would be good for them to have a few hours away. Quinn honestly thought that Rachel's demands would be a lot harder to deal with and that she would have hated to accept each one of them. She wasn't sure what Thomas would do if she didn't get Rachel's forgiveness.

"Number three: you have to do two duets with me before the school year is over." Finally something that Quinn could consider a demand, though even that one was a simple one to deal with. It would probably involve Glee. "That's it." Rachel smiled at Quinn's nod of acceptance but then the smile vanished as Rachel took a step forward. "Oh and Quinn, I've been the bigger person for a long time but if you hurt him," Rachel smiled sinisterly, Quinn actually felt intimidated enough to gulp, "you'll see just what I'm capable of."

"I'm not going to hurt him, Rachel." Quinn countered calmly as she turned away from her, "I wonder if everything is fine with him and his sister."

"Why wouldn't they be?" Rachel questioned in confusion, "They're relationship has improved drastically since he first came here. They eat their dinners together with a movie; they've been learning about what happened in each others lives over the past four years; they even went out for a family dinner a few days ago with Cody… they're actually starting to act like a brother and sister who openly care about one another. They're finally feeling like they're family again."

Things were finally patched up and Quinn had gone and ruined it? Quinn remembered that dinner she had at his house and it was filled with nothing but anger and tension. Lily had seemed so pained by Thomas' words and Thomas had been so angry and upset. To think that they fixed whatever it was that brought them apart and she had just tore their progress apart… "Lily made me dump Thomas. She threatened to ruin my family if I didn't."

"There's no way Lily did that." Rachel argued in disbelief, she knew Lily, they were friends. There was no way the kind woman who helped her go clothes shopping and watched movies with her was that cruel. "She's the kindest person I know."

"You don't have to believe me Rachel but she did say it." Quinn insisted calmly, she was more than ready for Thomas to turn the corner in his normal car, she didn't want to start any arguments with Rachel now. She only just got her forgiveness. "Look, I don't want to talk about it, Rachel. I'd prefer to continue on neutral ground for at least a few weeks."

Thomas turned the corner and pulled up outside of the house. Rachel quickly grabbed her bag before closing the door and jogged to climb into the car. Of course, Quinn had already taken shotgun. "Everything okay?" Thomas' eyes flickered between the two girls, there was no sign of any anger or hurt looks, so that was a good sign.

"As good as they can be." Rachel commented from a carefree tone, she knew this was going to change everything but she would be damned if their friendship simply vanished because he was in a relationship. She was going to have a long talk with him during lunch and she would be getting something in return for her selfless act. She did him a favour and now he owes her back.

"Rachel and I have managed to find some common ground." Quinn added with a smile.

"Yeah?" Thomas couldn't think of a single thing that the two girls actually had in common. "What's that?"

The two girls looked at him, "You." The explained in unison, it was mega creepy. Thomas wasn't sure if the best foundation between them should be him, he didn't want to get stuck between any of their future arguments, he didn't want to get stuck in any position that required siding with one of them.

"Well that's good." Thomas muttered as the car began to move, if it worked for them both for now, so be it. He would just have to help them find something else. If that was even possible.

-0-

Rachel sat on the auditorium stage, she normally sang a song while Thomas played the piano but she decided against it today, she needed to have that conversation with Thomas. She had been thinking all day about what she could convince Thomas to do in return for her generosity and she wanted to talk to him about his sister _and_ Quinn. She needed to be kept in the loop.

"I finished my sandwich five minutes ago and you still haven't even mentioned singing." Thomas teased warmly as he nudged Rachel with his arm, his smile dropped at her unimpressed expression. He knew it wasn't going to be as easy as a single apology "I tried to forget her, Rachel. I did."

Rachel shook her head with a tight smile. "One can't help who they fall in love with; the heart wants, what the heart wants."

"I didn't say that I was in love with her,"

"Sure you did. Anybody that was still in the school yesterday heard it too." Rachel declared calmly, "I've heard you play music, you know I love listening to you play but I've never heard you play like you did yesterday. It was the most emotionally charged music that's ever graced my ears… that's when you confessed your love for her."

"I didn't mean to," Thomas revealed honestly. He hadn't meant to, it was kind of like a realisation that occurred half way through. "I just wanted her to listen to me and she refused to listen to my words, so I thought that she might listen to my music."

"It looks like it did just that." She gave him a smile, she was glad that he found somebody who made him feel happy or whatever, it would have been better if it wasn't Quinn Fabray but she was still glad. "You so owe me a huge favour too, I accepted her apology for you and now you have to do something for me."

"Rachel, I'm thankful that you accepted her apology, _I am,_ but you shouldn't have done it for me." Thomas hadn't expected Rachel to accept Quinn's apology, he expected a very long tedious few weeks of trying to convince the two girls to coincide. Thomas didn't even think that Quinn deserved to be forgiven, she said some pretty hurtful stuff that shouldn't be forgiven with a simple _sorry._ "You should have waited until you felt that she deserved to be forgiven."

"It's too late for that now," Rachel pointed out calmly, "it's fine. I like that I don't have to worry about Quinn calling me names any more and she agreed to my demands,"

"Demands?" Thomas interrupted with a confused look, "What demands?"

"That our studying on Wednesdays will continue, you eat lunch with me in here and she has to do two duets with me before the school year ends." Thomas wasn't sure how to feel about this. Asking for an apology was one thing but using it to make demands seemed pretty shallow. Not to mention how most of it consisted with things that were up to him anyway.

"Rachel, it isn't up to Quinn to say whether I continue to eat lunch with you or continue to help you study maths. That's my decision." He didn't mean for his tone to grow annoyed with just a hint of anger. "I'm not one of those people that that tell their friends to fuck off because they're in a relationship. You're my best friend and I'm going to make time for you. I eat lunch with you because I enjoy doing so, I like listening to you sing and I like playing the piano for you to sing. I don't eat lunch with you because I have nowhere else to go. I don't know if you've noticed but you haven't been slushied in awhile. That's because I cared about my best friend enough to risk losing my social popularity. There are other people who wouldn't mind eating lunch with me but I choose to eat with you. That's not going to change because I'm dating Quinn."

Rachel looked away from him, he actually looked hurt by her assumption, "I know."

"Do you?" Thomas asked as he calmed himself. "Then why did you make it one of you _demands_?"

"Because I thought that I was going to lose my only friend to Quinn Fabray." Rachel snapped coldly, how did her moment of selflessness become something that Thomas could have a go at her for? "You know, the girl who has made my life a living nightmare; the girl who's gradually managed to isolate me and repeatedly tried to destroy my confidence."

"That's not what this argument is about." Thomas challenged furiously, "This is about the fact that _you_ think that you're in my life because I have no one else. This is about the fact that you believe our friendship is some kind of shame, something I created to have someone in my life and now you think that I'm going to ditch you because I have Quinn."

"Well aren't you?" Thomas stared at her with a visibly hurt look. He didn't answer her question, he just stared at her, it made her feel horrible. He put his feet to the floor in complete silence, complete and utter shock tore through him, he had no idea what to say.

"How lowly do you think of me?" He looked away from her in disappointment, he still couldn't believe she said it.

"What?" Rachel screeched in utter confusion, "It had nothing to do with you. I've just seen it for myself, people get in relationships and their friends don't matter any more."

"You made the assumption that I would just toss you to wind." Thomas reminded bitterly, he turned back to her with a dead look. "I told Quinn the first time we even started interacting in a more romantic matter that I wouldn't stop eating lunch with you. I asked Quinn to apologise to you, not for your sake but because you're one of the most important people in my life and I couldn't handle the idea of having to ever choose between either one of you. You're just as important to me as Quinn is… just in a different way."

"Tom, I didn't mean it like that. I was just worried." Rachel confessed, "I was worried that you wouldn't spend as much time with me. I was worried that I would end up going back to spending all of my time alone. I was worried that I was going to be stuck in my house all of the time again, I was worried that I was going to be spending most of my time crying because I feel alone and worthless. I was worried that I wasn't going to feel special again."

"Then why didn't you just say that?" Thomas queried with an expectant look, "I told you only the other day that my father gave me a house. If you were that bothered about being alone, why didn't you just ask to stay there until your fathers return from their trip? I have four guest rooms, I wouldn't have minded but instead you accuse me of being some tosser."

"I didn't call you that."

"You might as well have." Thomas finished as he moved back to take a seat on the stage.

"I'm sorry, Tom. I was just scared that I was going to lose the one person in my life that actually cares about me, spends time with me and doesn't hate me." Rachel pleaded for him to understand, relief washed over her as Thomas moved over and hugged her, "Were you serious about me staying at your house?"

"Extremely," Thomas assured warmly. The truth was that Thomas would love having someone in his house other than himself. He wasn't exactly worried about having to defend himself because he was more than capable at taking out any assailants that try to enter his home but it would help his paranoia. If someone else was there he wouldn't tense up at every little sound. "You're my best friend, Rachel. I want you to be okay with me dating Quinn, I want you to feel like you can spend time with me if you want to, and if you staying at my house allows you to feel safer then you're welcome anytime you want. I know it would make me feel better, I hate that you're constantly in that house on your own."

Rachel looked up at him with hopeful eyes, "Can I come over tonight?"

"Sure. I'll cook you something vegan and we can watch a few movies." Thomas let go of Rachel with an expectant look, "Are you okay now? You feel like our friendship is more secure?"

"Yes. You know, you don't owe me anything back for forgiving Quinn, I forget sometimes how much you've done for me."

"I told you Rachel, you're my best friend. I'd do anything for you."

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 **(A/N) - If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.**


	14. Closing In

**(A/N) - This is the finale. I won't have time to write for a few months and I didn't want to simply leave it at the last chapter so I wrote this. I will say this; I will most likely be continuing this story in the future but I'll probably make that a sequel. So, if you want to see this continue and you don't mind waiting, I would suggest that you follow my account for an email to the sequel. It's more of a _when_ I do a sequel than a _if_ I do a sequel. I will do a sequel in the future. **

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"You need to go to the safe house."

There were a lot of words that Thomas hated but those eight had to be the worst. The first time he had ever head them was when he was eight years old, his father had made a dodgy deal with some shady people, it went bad. It went really bad. So bad that someone tried to kill his father and anyone who his father cared for. That wasn't the last time either. He could still remember being pulled out of bed by his mother in the middle of the night. He was led down a secret passage way and then there was a long trip on a helicopter. The safe house was so secret that he was blindfolded half way there. The fear that consumed him that night was beyond anything he has felt since… other then watching his mother die.

So when he woke up at two in the morning to his phone ringing and heard those words he wasn't exactly sure what to do. In fact, he froze up, he sat there for twenty minutes simply staring at his phone. When he finally managed to remove himself from his stupor, he started to realise just what those words meant _now._ It would mean leaving his home, the one place other than his grandmother's that he felt comfortable. It meant that he was going to lose his friends, he was going to lose his bro, his best friend and his girl friend. Three of the most important people currently in his life. Not to mention the fact that he had only just caught up in school a week ago. This was his father's fault.

Thomas wished that the thought of being killed made him snap into action, he wished that he could say that he packed a bag of clothes, grabbed some secret cash and a gun from a hidden safe and that he was more than ready to simply vanish in the middle of the night. Except none of it would be the truth. No, the truth was the exact opposite, he wasn't ready to leave his home in the slightest. There was a hidden safe that contained secret cash and a gun, but he had no idea how to use a gun and the cash seemed useless. What was he going to do? Catch a plane? Of course not, one of his father's most trusted and loyal soldiers to collect him, blindfold him and then drag him to the safe house. At least he would of if Thomas was still at the house. Thomas wouldn't be at the house.

No, Thomas would be driving at one-hundred and ninety miles per hour back into town and he would sit outside of Quinn's house for what felt like hours. Eventually he would climb out of his car, run around the house until he found Quinn's open window and then he would parkour his way into her bedroom. There wouldn't be a single sound made the entire time. At least not until Thomas is smacked in the face with what felt like a brick. The light flickered before it flooded the room with visibility.

"Thomas?" Of course Quinn's surprised that her boyfriend just got into her room like some creep, "What are you doing?" Thomas stood up with a groan while rubbing his head. He was positive Russell Fabray was going to storm in here with a baseball bat any second now. "You scared me."

Even with a shadow hiding part of her face, her hair being a complete mess and the annoyance written in her eyes, she still looked flawless… like always. Reality quickly shot back into him painfully. He took a seat on her bed, Quinn sat next to him silently, her annoyance quickly changing out for worry. "I have to leave." There was most likely a thousand ways Thomas could have said it but that was the only wau that was in his head. Actually, they were the only words in his head, the shock still hadn't quite worn off. Quinn smacking him in the head with a large book didn't help either.

Quinn shook her head as the annoyance quickly returned, the worry of giving him brain damage quickly flew out of the window. "Why did you come then? I was having an amazing dream about," She paused as her face warmed up considerably, "Why did you come then?" She repeated quickly.

"No." Thomas countered with a slight mumble, "I mean I have to leave town." Thomas expected a lot of different reactions but her silence wasn't one of them. He thought that she might be angry with him for leaving after she had finally opened herself up to him; He thought that she might have been really upset about it but he didn't expect silence.

Quinn wasn't sure what he said _exactly_ , she thought she heard him say that he was leaving town but she was still really tired and he was mumbling, she was positive that she was just hearing things. Yet the emotions that started to drown her commented otherwise. "What did you just say?" He didn't say it again, he simply gave her a look of sorrow. "Why?" She wouldn't let her emotions get the better of her.

Thomas could have made her understand with the truth. It would have made sense to tell her the truth. He should have told her the truth but he didn't want her to worry about him being dead everyday after he left. Quinn already had a lot to think about and having to even think for the tiniest moment that he was dead was simply not fair. "My father's making me return home," It was easier this way, make his father look like the bad guy and make himself look like a coward, it was easier this way. It didn't feel like it though. Especially not having to feel at the disappointment, the anger and the pain that poured from her in waves. "he's sending one of his soldiers to bring me, I don't have a choice."

Quinn didn't say anything. She tried to. She really did, but nothing would come out. "You told me that you would stand by my side forever." The memory was one that she held close to her heart. It was one that she thought about when the loneliness taunted her… she truly thought that he was telling the truth. She honestly believed with all of her heart that Thomas would never leave her. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she looked at him. "You promised."

Thomas tried to place his hand on her arm but she shrugged it off coldly, it hurt more than any words could. This was for her, this was for Rachel and Puck. Thomas didn't care if someone put a bullet in the back of his head, he just didn't want the people that he loved to get hurt. She could never know that. "I don't want to leave, Quinn. I really don't."

Quinn heard the sincerity in his words and if anything it made it worse. Still, she looked at him with hope and she tried her hardest not to wipe away the tears that burned her cheeks, she couldn't help it when her head involuntarily leaned into his palm as his thumb wiped the tears away gently. "So don't." Thomas sighed with a humourless chuckle.

"Quinne, I wish I could stay, I really do." Thomas took her hand and squeezed it gently, "I'm going to promise you right now: that I am going to do everything within my power to find my way back to this town. I will do anything I have to, I _w_ ill return, Quinn."

"You shouldn't make a promise that you can't keep," Quinn ordered with an almost silent sob, "You'll only hurt someone."

"Quinn, you have two and a half years before you finally get out of this town, I will be back before then." Thomas turned her face to look at him, his eyes bore into hers, his soul was on full display. "And if I'm not, I _will_ find you… no matter where you are in the world."

She wanted to be furious with him but it was hard. She could see the tears that brimmed in his eyes, she could hear the effort it took him to even speak about going away and she knew how much he cared about her. She knew that this wasn't his fault, she knew that he hated breaking his promises. She knew that he was telling her the truth and she would hold onto the hope that he was giving her. One day they will be together again and the last four months will not have been for no reason. She leant forward and grabbed him into a passionate kiss.

"Quinn? What are you doing?" Quinn pulled his shirt off before kissing him again, "Quinn. Stop!"

Quinn's movements faltered at his words, she looked at him calmly, "You're my first love," She revealed shyly, "and this could be the last time I ever see you. I want my last night with you to be something I remember fondly for the rest of my life, I don't want it to be an argument, I don't want it to be painful. I just want one last night with you," She looked up at his unsure eyes and repeated herself, " _with you_."

Thomas' eyes widened in understanding, "What? No. Quinn I will come back, you will see me again. I don't want my leaving to be how you lose your virginity, I want it to be special, I want you to feel special."

"You make me feel special," Quinn countered calmly, "How much more special can it be than losing it to your first love? The person who makes you feel loved, safe, precious and comfortable?" She moved to kiss him again but he moved back slightly, "Please, I just need to feel close to you, before I lose the chance to."

"This'll only make it harder in the morning," Thomas insisted as Quinn pushed him onto his back.

Quinn stared into his eyes as she straddle his lap, she leant down to kiss him but paused before she touched his lips, "Then you better return."

Quinn knew this was most likely that last time she ever saw Thomas Michaelson but for tonight she could pretend that he wasn't going away and that this was the night that she would lose her virginity to the person who she loved with everything in her. As she felt Thomas remove her pyjamas cautiously, she finally said the three words that she was completely sure to be that truth. "I love you."

-0-

Thomas wanted to stay with Quinn until the sun rose but that wasn't a choice that he could make. His father's warning wasn't a joke, if Richard was ready to say those words, it meant that something was about to go down.

Thomas would once again drive over the driving limit to reach Puck's house. He would once again climb over Puck's fence to get into his bro's garden and then he would parkour onto the ledge just outside of Puck's bedroom. This time his arrival went smoother because Puck was still awake playing xbox at the bottom of his bed. Thomas knocked the window with three gentle, but audible knocks.

He watched as Puck jumped and Thomas almost heard the annoyed sigh as Puck moved to open his window. "You shouldn't do shit like that! If my light weren't on I would have put a bat over your head." Puck moved back so Thomas could climb over the window ledge quietly, both boy's kept their voices low, Mrs Puckerman was not a woman to be awoken in the middle of the night.

"Sorry, bud." Thomas didn't take a seat, instead he stood still awkwardly, Puck moved back to his controller. "I'm leaving town."

"What?" Puck winced at how loud his voice went, "What?" He repeated at a much quieter tone. Thomas watched as Puck backed out of his game and left his screen on the dashboard before turning back to him with an expectant look.

"I'm going to be honest with you but you can't tell anyone what I'm going to tell you," Thomas paused as he let his back slide down the wall until he was sitting on the floor, Puck took a seat on his bed.

"Of course," Puck promised quickly, "that's what bro's are for." Puck watched as a thoughtful look shot over Thomas, he continued to reassure his best friend. "I have your back remember."

Thomas nodded quickly but his shock was finally wearing off, he was going to say it out loud, it made it significantly more real. "There's a man out to kill my father and if Lily, Cody and I don't get to the safe house we're in danger too."

"Are you serious?" Puck gave Thomas a disbelieving look but it quickly became painfully visible that Thomas wasn't messing with him. "Fucking hell, dude. What are you doing here still?"

"Saying goodbye," Puck faltered as he stared at Thomas in understanding, "I went to Quinn's first." Puck didn't say anything, he simply waited for Thomas to continue. "It was harder than I thought it was going to be and I thought it was going to be devastating."

"What happened?" Puck couldn't help that his curiosity shot up, to be honest, Puck was surprised Thomas didn't have a red face or a black eye. After everything Puck had watched the two of them go through to finally be together and Thomas was just leaving, "What excuse did you give her?"

"That my father wasn't giving me a choice and that he was sending one of his soldiers to pick me up." Thomas sighed deeply, "I'm pretty sure that she thinks that I'm just a coward to scared to say no to his father. I just didn't want her to worry about me being killed," Puck nodded, that was something that he would probably do if he were in this position, protect those that he loved. "Then she slept with me."

"What?" Puck's eyes opened in surprise, "How did that happen?"

Thomas wanted to make a joke but he didn't have it in him. He definitely wasn't going to talk about his last moment with Quinn, not to Puck or anyone else, that was their memory."It doesn't matter but, um, it's messed me up man."

"You have to go," Puck instructed calmly, "you can't stay. Quinn obviously wants you to stay but I can honestly say that if she knew everything then she would be driving you to the safe house herself."

"Yeah." Thomas agreed half-heartedly, "I don't know, I just can't help but think that leaving is a mistake, everyone I care about is here."

"Your nan will be there too, right?" That wasn't even something Thomas had thought about. It was true, if there was an actual threat then the entire family would be brought to the safe house, this was a chance to his nan again. Which was a nice thought, even if it was for a bad reason.

"Yeah, I guess she will."

"It's not all bad then," Puck continued to hopefully help Thomas, "you can get some of those cookies that you keep telling me about. A proper Sunday dinner too." Puck add with a light tone. It didn't look like it helped much.

"Cookies and a Sunday dinner doesn't really add up to losing my girlfriend, my best friend and my bro. You guy's are pretty much everything to me." Thomas stood up and held his hand out for Puck to shake, Puck looked at it and whacked it away before grabbing Thomas into a tight bear hug. "Get off." Puck dropped him with an apologetic nod,

"I'm going to miss you, bro." Thomas nodded in agreement, "I'll see you soon."

"I hope so." Thomas voiced honestly, he climbed out of the window ledge, "Puck, I have one last favour to ask,"

"Anything,"

"Keep Rachel company and make sure she's still safe from the slushies, tell the guys that I'll come back just to kick their asses if I have too." This was the one of the things that made him feel extremely guilty for leaving. Thomas knew that he was Rachel's only friends and he knew that telling her that he had to leave was going to be extremely difficult. He didn't want her to go back to how she was before, she was a wonderful person and she deserved more then isolation and cruelty.

"I'll look after Rachel," Puck promised with a confident tone, "I'll make sure that she gets the attention that she deserves too. I won't let her feel alone." Thomas nodded his thanks at Puck's assuring tone, he truly believed that Puck will follow through on his promise. Puck had come a long way since Thomas first met him and the half-cast boy was more confident in himself now then he ever was. He won't let anyone's opinion stop him from protecting his friends, no matter how obnoxious and egotistical they can get.

-0-

Rachel was the last person on Thomas' mental list of people to see. His car moved a lot slower to get his Rachel's house, he wasn't sure what he was going to say to her. How do you tell someone that's been by your side since the beginning that you're abandoning them because of your father? There was no way he was telling her the truth. Rachel Berry was beyond dramatic about pretty much everything when she was nervous or upset, he wouldn't have her life going to crap because she was worried about him being dead.

He almost knocked on her door on instinct but quickly remembered that her father's were actually at home again. So once again he found himself using his parkour skills to infiltrate Rachel's bedroom and he has never been so grateful about sound proof walls in his entire life. As he slid the window shut to stop the cold air from flooding into Rachel's room, he heard mumbling and just as a scream began to leave Rachel's mouth, Thomas clasped his hand over it.

"It's just me, Rachel." Thomas assured quickly, he was surprised the tiny girl before him didn't bite his damn hand off. Once she stopped trying to scream, he removed his hand and took a seat at the bottom of her bed.

"Are you insane? I thought you were a predator." Thomas shook his head with a slightly amused smile, Rachel sat up with an expectant look. "Well? What's your excuse for breaking and entering?"

Thomas smile vanished, this is the third time he was going to do this and it was still wasn't easier. "I have to leave town. My father isn't giving me a choice, he's already sent one of his minions to collect my sister, Cody and I up."

"That's a pretty good excuse," Rachel admitted with a dead look, "I, can't you make him let you stay?"

"No." It was a lie that he couldn't make his father let him stay. Thomas would single-handedly take down any one of his father's loyal minions and he had more than enough dirt on his father to make the older man leave him alone but it was all pointless. This wasn't something his father wanted to happen, Thomas truly believed that but there was a man looking to put a bullet into someone and his father only wanted to protect his family. Even if it was the old man's fault for the protection needed in the first place. "It's out of my hands."

"How long for?" There wasn't an answer for the question and Rachel already knew it, "I'm going to miss you."

"You're taking this remarkably well,"

"Well, what can I do?" Rachel pointed out with a tensed jaw, "My best friend is being torn away from me and there's nothing that either one of us can do."

Thomas pulled her into a tight hug, "I'll do whatever I can to return, Rachel. Whatever it takes. You, Quinn and Puck are three of the most important people in my life, I'm not ready to just give that up without a fight."

"It's going to go back to how it used to be," Rachel mumbled, "I'm going to be alone, soaked in slushy and despised by everyone." Rachel wanted to cry, she really wanted to cry, but she wasn't going to put that onto Thomas. She knew it wasn't his fault, she knew that he didn't want to leave and she definitely knew that he was telling the truth when he said that he would do whatever it took to return.

"No. Rachel they weren't nice to you because you were standing next to me, they weren't nice to you because of me at all. They were nice to you because you are beautiful, smart, talented and on a rare occasion you can be pretty finny. They couldn't see that before because of the slushies and the insults and the clothes but then they did and they liked you. Sure sometimes they can be pricks but that's only because they're human. You're not special because of me, you're special because you are one of the most talented people I have ever met. Your special because while most other cower because of social tension, you will stand tall and proud and defend what you believe in. Every one in glee are your friends in one way or another, they might not show it but they care about you. Everything is different now, Rachel. Everything."

Tears finally leaked from Rachel's eyes and an audible sob echoed around the room, "I still don't want you to leave." Rachel held onto him tightly as she felt him pull away slightly.

Thomas kissed her forehead with a deep sigh, "I don't want to go either, Rachel. You have been by my side since the beginning and I hate that I'm abandoning you but you will always be my best friend, you will always be in my thoughts."

"Promise to call?" This is where it came in handy to go into hiding as a rich person, you can get a hold of certain gadgets, such as an untraceable phone.

"I'll try my hardest but I make no promises. I wouldn't put it past my father to take my phone, I will definitely try my hardest though."

"When do you have to go?" It seemed like a silly question considering the fact that Thomas was waking her up at five-thirty in the morning. "Never mind, I already know it's soon, you wouldn't have come otherwise. I was hoping that you might have enough time to play one last song for me. "

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I really wish I could, I just don't have the time. The minion will be here soon." Rachel nodded her understanding before finally pulling away from Thomas.

"I hope it's better there than it used to be. I hate the idea of you staying somewhere like that again." Thomas smiled tightly and stood up silently, "Bye."

A tear wormed it's way down Thomas' cheek, "I'm going to miss you, Rachel Berry. I really am." He didn't wait for a response before he climbed out of her window and by the time Rachel managed to reach it, he had already vanished into the night.

-0-

The man sent to collect Thomas was waiting for him at Lily's house. The tall, bulky man had an air about him that screamed military, the only kind of people his father allowed to protect his family. Disciplined, honest and loyal soldiers. The fact that he was sitting in a large, black SUV was a bit over the top, it was the only thing that stuck out in the entire neighbourhood.

It was already quickly coming up to half six by the time he actually got to his sister, mostly because he sat in his car for twenty minutes before he actually drove his car into the garage. He knew that it was inevitable but he still hoped that if he was to simply wait a few more hours his father might call and call a false alarm. Obviously that didn't happen, even after Lily's thirty minutes of collecting things that weren't necessary, she wasn't taking the warning seriously.

"This is unbelievable!" They were the first words Thomas heard as he walked into his sister's home, who he still hadn't actually spoke to since finding out about what she said to Quinn. That was something that was now going to get swept under the rug, just like everything else that goes away in situations like this. "I can't believe he's done it again."

"I'm just as annoyed as your are, Lily." Thomas commented with a sigh, "I have to leave people, who actually care about me, behind. I couldn't even have one last song with Rachel because one more day at school could mean someone getting hurt."

Cody came in with a pokemon backpack strapped to his back, "I'm ready for the trip now, mommy." Seconds passed before he saw Thomas, who he quickly ran to and put his arms in the air. "Uncle Thomas! I want a hug," Thomas picked him up with a small groan, the boy seemed to have doubled in weight. Thomas hugged Cody tightly, he really missed Cody.

Lily picked up her bags and moved to the door, "Come on then, let's get going before that brute comes in and tries to make us get going." Lily emphasized the word 'tries' with something akin to an amused tone. Thomas followed her with Cody in his arms silently, he walked down to the car and put Cody in first. The man climbed out to grab Lily's bags and placed them in the boot.

"You lot go on ahead, I'm going to take my bike."

"Sir," The driver was standing directly behind Thomas, "I'm afraid that's not possible, your father gave me strict rules." Thomas shrugged with a confused look before shutting the door.

"You say that like I give a fuck." Thomas walked back to the house, the driver didn't even try to stop him. Once Thomas was on his motorcycle, the SUV pulled out of the driveway.

Perhaps, Thomas should have gotten into the car because when he finally drove past McKinley and watched everyone, who had a pre-school morning activity, storm into the school he ended up pulled over. He pulled out his phone and sent his sister a message, 'I'll meet you at the airport. I need to take a quick pit stop.' His father was going to be pissed but Thomas didn't care. He needed to do this. Just once. Just to make it official.

He pulled into the school's parking lot, dismounted the bike and sprinted to the choir room. He needed to make this quick, just in case that driver decided to turn around… which is most likely exactly what he did. Unless Lily actually had his back.

"Thomas?" It was expected that most of the room were surprised at his entrance, the entire room would have known about him leaving town seconds into the glee session. It was Rachel who had called his name out with a confused look. "Do you not have to leave?"

"I still have to leave," The hopeful looks dimmed significantly, "but I didn't want to leave until I was officially a member of this club."

Mr Shuester tilted his head curiously, "You were a member of this club, we all thought of you as apart of it anyway." Mr Shuester watched as Thomas took a guitar from the side,

"I've never sang in here." Thomas pointed out, "I'd like to sing for you all before I have to leave, if that's alright?"

"Sure." Will leaned on the piano with a smile, glad to hear the rest of the kids agree with him. "Let's see what you've got."

Thomas played a short tune to make sure everything sounded okay before he started properly, "If I could I would do all of this again..." It was a pleasant surprise to hear Thomas' voice, it was actually pretty good, it was a shame that he hadn't sung before. Throughout most of the song Thomas was looking at Puck, Quinn and Rachel but his eyes did flicker to other faces. He had spent a little time with each member of the glee club, they all made him feel welcome, some more than others but they tried. His eyes fell on Quinn,

"... We'll be miles apart  
I'll keep you deep inside  
You're always in my heart  
A new life to start  
I may be leaving but you're always in my heart ..."

Claps filled the room instantly after Thomas finished the song. "Thanks, guys. I'm really glad that I made a pit stop to do that." Everyone smiled at him as he placed the guitar back where it belonged.

Will tapped Thomas on the back with a smile before moving back to lean on the piano again, "I think I can speak for everyone when I say; that we're all glad that you made,"

"Thomas Michaelson,"

Thomas turned quickly with a smile to see who had called his name, "Yeah," His mouth shut in shock and his smile dissipated into thin air. A lean masked man held a gun to his head. Thomas gulped audibly in the extremely quiet room, an intake of breath from almost everyone filled the room.

BANG!

* * *

 **(A/N) - Let's start with me saying sorry? I know it's a pretty horrible ending but if you follow me, you'll have a ninety-nine percent chance of seeing it continue in the future.  
**

 **If you have any thoughts, opinions or criticsm, leave it in the box below. You can leave a review even as a guest.  
**

 **So about you coming back in a few months, is your answer still the same?**

 **I'm still going to be updating the older chapters as soon as possible, I don't want the older chapters to ruin what people think of the story.**

 **Anyway, I just want to say thank you to those of you who stuck with me over the past few months, it really means a lot. Goodbye.. for now.  
**


	15. The End

_What does it mean, when you can stare into the barrel of a gun and not feel anything? What does it mean when the thought of living, or dying doesn't stir any emotion?_

Thomas stared at the barrel of that pistol for what felt like forever. It was almost like time froze and he could walk around the room and take in every little thing. The fear and disbelief in their eyes. The tears already about to fall. The anger the flowed from them. The coldness in the man's eyes. The steadiness of the man's hand. The slight tilt of his lips.

It was almost like he could take a seat on the piano stool and play the notes to himself. It was that thought that made a small smile appear on his face. He thought about laying in Quinn's bed;

 _There they were, just laying there. Quinn's blonde hair was sprawled over his side and his hand was caressing her bare shoulder. It was like heaven. The tranquillity provided to him in that moment was something he would seek over and over again, if he survived this. He remembers her pulling herself impossibly closer to him, and the warmth that he felt was impossible to describe._

 _He could see her glancing up at him with an adorably, shy smile. Her mischievously, loving hazel eyes played menacingly with his heart. It was almost like they burned into his very soul. He could feel the warmth enter his own eyes once again, the hope of_ living _once again returned and it brought the most amazing smile out. The most real smile._

Another abrupt memory flashed dangerously before him;

 _There he was on the big stage; playing the piano as Rachel sang her inspiring voice into the world. He could see her turning towards him and smiling broadly. It felt incredible to play with her, because he knew in his heart that one day she would be the biggest broadway star in existence and while his multi-billionaire friends talk about what they have and who they knew… he could point at a screen and say I know her, and she's my best friend._

 _She is his best friend and he doubted that she knew it._

 _The sudden desire to play with her at sectionals pulled at him. The sudden desire to tell her how special she is pulled at him. The desire to show her just how amazing she is pulled at his heart… and suddenly it hit him._

One last memory;

 _There he was with Puckerman. Playing computer games and talking about nonsense, but they're both smiling because they finally have the brother that they never had. Someone who would take a bullet for them, someone who would defend them till their last breath._

 _It flashed to another scene of them playing football together. Stupid laughter and pointless fun. They were brother's and he hadn't even realised it._

It finally hit him. This was it, this was death. It wasn't about falling into an existence of nothing, or rotting under the dirt, or burning to ashes. It was about leaving those you love behind, it was about leaving your dreams unfinished. The abrupt realisation brought a tear to his eyes.

He would never hold Quinn in his arm's again. He would never listen to Rachel singing her soul out. He would never drink beer, play computer games or talk about stupid stuff with Puckerman again.

The tear made it's way down his cheek and that's when he heard it. That's when he heard the gun be fired.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 **(A/N) – People have asked why I deleted the sequel and the truth is, I hated it. I thought it was awful and I couldn't continue to write it. I'm sorry if that upsets you but that's the truth.**

 **I want to continue this story and I'm going to. My way and how I like it. If you can't help but hate that… then go away.**


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